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Mt^  Testament  Stta«te$ 

V 

BIBLE  READING  IN 
THE  EARLY  CHURCH 


BY 

ADOLF    HARNACK 

PROFESSOR    OF    CHURCH    HISTORY    IN    THE    UNIVERSITY   OF    BERLIN 


TRANSLATED   BY 

THE   REV.  J.  R.  WILKINSON,  M.A. 

LATE   SCHOLAR    OF    WORCESTER    COLLEGE,    OXFORD  ; 
AND    RECTOR   OF    WINFORD 


WILLIAMS    &    NORGATE 

14  HENRIETTA  STREET,   COVENT  GARDEN,   LONDON 

NEW   YORK:    G.  P.   PUTNAM'S   SONS 

1912 


PREFACE 

All  that  need  be  said  of  the  interest  and  importance  of 
the  question  of  the  use  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  the 
Early  Church  has  been  set  forth  in  the  Introduction. 

The  "  History  of  the  New  Testament"  includes  not  only 
the  history  of  its  versions  in  various  languages,  but  also 
the  history  of  its  use.  Again,  the  history  of  the  use  is 
also,  in  its  first  stages  at  least,  included  in  the  subject 
of  "  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament,"  because  the 
question  in  what  sense  the  collection  of  writings  known  as 
the  New  Testament  was  regarded  as  a  Canon  of  religion 
is  not  decided  by  saying  that  it  was  regarded  as  canonical, 
but  can  only  be  answered  by  finding  out  what  use  was 
actually  made  of  this  collection.  No  objection,  there- 
fore, can  be  raised  against  our  including  the  following 
investigation  in  our  New  Testament  Studies^  which  deal 
principally  with  the  subject  of  "Introduction  to  the  New 
Testament."  The  public  use  of  the  New  Testament  in 
the  ancient  Church  is,  as  a  matter  of  course,  included  in 
every  considerable  work  on  the  History  of  the  Canon  of 
Scripture — cf.  Glaue's  Die  Voiiesung  heiliger  Schriften  im 
Gottesdie7iste  (1907) — and  it  is  simply  an  oversight  that 
the  private  use  has  not  also  been  taken  into  consideration. 
The  knowledge  of  the  latter  use  is  quite  indispensable 


ivi7575G9 


vi     BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

if  we  would  know  what  the  New  Testament  signified 
as  the  Canon  of  the  Early  Church.  It  is  true  that  in 
this  investigation  the  Old  Testament  should  not  be 
separated  from  the  New ;  but  in  the  Church  the  Old 
Testament  has  stood  in  the  shadow  of  the  New  ever 
since  the  New  Testament  came  into  being. 

In  the  following  pages  will  be  found  a  series  of 
interesting  references  of  which  little  notice  has  hitherto 
been  taken  in  works  on  Church  history,  though  they 
throw  peculiar  light  upon  the  character  and  life  of  the 
Early  Church.  Though  I  have  aimed  at  comprehensive- 
ness, it  is  certain  not  only  that  much  has  escaped  my  notice, 
but  also  that  I  have  only  lightly  touched  upon  some 
questions  although  they  are  closely  connected  with  the 
main  problem,  such  as  the  character  and  distribution  of 
religious  and  theological  literature  other  than  Scripture, 
the  relation  between  public  lection  and  private  reading, 
the  use  of  verses  of  Scripture  as  amulets,  and  so  forth. 
I  have  also  endeavoured  to  be  as  concise  as  possible, 
and  have  left  the  reader  to  draw  complete  inferences 
from  many  instances  which  I  have  quoted.  My  chief 
object,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  work  itself,  has  been 
to  bring  to  light,  in  connection  with  the  use  of  sacred 
writings,  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  the  Christian 
religion,  even  in  its  ancient  Catholic  form,  as  compared 
with  the  mystery-religions.  In  this  sense  I  might  have 
described  my  book  as  belonging  to  the  comparative 
study  of  religions.  Again,  though  I  did  not  definitely 
intend   this,  it    serves   to   confirm    the   view  that   the 


PREFACE  vii 

Reformation,  by  placing  the  Bible  in  the  hands  of  every 
Christian  layman,  has  only  returned  to  the  simple  con- 
fidence of  the  Early  Church.  It  is  therefore  with  peculiar 
pleasure  that  I  submit  my  investigations  to  the  man 
whom,  on  the  occasion  of  his  jubilee,  we  greet  with 
thankful  acclaim  as  vindex  reformationis  et  reformatorum} 

A.  HARNACK. 

Berlin,  ^Oth  March  1912. 


^  The  German  edition  is  dedicated  by  Professor  Harnack  to  Theodor 
Brieger. 


CONTENTS 

chap.  page 

Introduction  :  Points  of  Interest  in  con- 
nection WITH  THE  Question  of  the  Private 
Use  of  Holy  Scripture         ....  1 

i.  The  controversy  between  Catholicism  and 

Protestantism     .....  2 

ii.  The  dispute  between  Goeze^  Lessing,  and 

Walch 8 

iii.  Sacred  writings  in  the  mystery-religions 
and  in  Christianity ;  the  attitude  of 
Judaism     ......  27 

I.  The  Time  before  Irenaeus       ....  32 

II.  The  Period  from  Irenaeus  to  Eusebius    .  .  48 

III.  The  Period  from  Eusebius  to  Theodoret  .         90 

1.  Remarks    concerning   the    circulation    of 

religious  literature,  the  market  for 
Bibles,  sumptuous  copies  of  the  Bible, 
the  keeping  of  Bibles,  superstitions 
connected  with  the  Bible  .         .         .         96 

2.  Canonical,  apocryphal,  and  heretical  books 

in  private  use 103 

3.  Varieties  in  the  practice  of  private  Bible 

reading      .  .  .  .  .  .112 

4-.   Biblical  theology  and  the  laity  .        1 34 


X      BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

PAGE 

Main  Conclusions   .  .         .         .         .         .         .142 

Appendix 149 

Index  of  Authors  .         .         .         .         .         .         .151 

Index  of  Subjects 155 


BIBLE    READING    IN 
THE    EARLY  CHURCH 


INTRODUCTION 

The  question  of  the  private  use  of  Holy  Scripture  in  the 
Early  Church  is  from  many  aspects  of  peculiar  interest. 
In  the  first  place,  it  has  formed,  since  the  time  of  the 
Reformation,  a  subject  of  controversy  between  Catholic 
and  Protestant.  In  the  second  place,  it  made  its 
appearance  in  the  famous  controversy  between  Lessing 
and  Goeze,  and  received  enhanced  importance  through 
the  intervention  of  Walch,  but  was  not  brought  to  a 
fruitful  issue,  seeing  that  the  two  antagonists,  Lessing 
and  Walch,  were  removed  from  the  field  by  death.  In 
the  third  place,  the  question  is  worthy  of  special 
consideration  in  connection  with  the  modern  compara- 
tive study  of  religions;  for  we  must  investigate  and 
decide  whether  in  the  Christian  religion  the  sacred 
writings  played  the  same  part  as  in  other  religions — 
whether,  that  is,  these  writings  were  not  meant  for  the 
private  use  of  individuals,  but  were  reserved  altogether, 


2      BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

or  in  the  first  place,  for  priests  and  for  the  purposes  of 
public  religious  service.  If  in  the  case  of  Christianity 
this  question  is  to  be  answered  in  the  negative,  it  then 
follows  that  in  an  important  point  there  is  a  very 
considerable  difference  between  Christianity  and  many 
other  religions. 


The  controversy  between  Catholics  and  Protestants  is 
often  incorrectly  conceived  by  both  parties,  especially 
by  Protestants.  The  former  say  that  Protestantism  is 
mere  Biblicism,  and  that  Protestants  assert  that  it  is  a 
divine  command,  and  necessary  for  salvation,  that  every 
believer  should  read  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  ^  the  Protestants 
assert  that  Catholicism  forbids  laymen  to  read  the  Bible, 
the  use  of  which  it  reserves  for  priests  (and  monks). 
These  assertions  are  not,  however,  true  to  the  facts. 
Although  isolated  instances  in  support  of  both  theses 
can  be  deduced  from  history,  the  true  attitude  of  the 
respective  Churches  cannot  be  by  any  means  thus 
described :  Protestantism  does  not  assert  that  private 
Bible  reading  is  necessary  for  salvation,  nor  can  it  be 
proved  that  Catholicism  as  a  matter  of  universal 
principle  forbids  the  layman  to  read  the  Bible.  On 
the  contrary,  Catholicism  also  has  at  all  times  undoubtedly 
regarded  Bible  reading  as  useful  and  salutary  for  every 
man   in   the  abstract^  and  is  still  of  the  same  opinion ; 

^  Compare,  e.g.,  0.  Schmid  in  the  second  edition  of  Wetzer  and 
Weltes'  Kirclienlexicon  (ed.  Kaulen),  Bd.  ii.  col.  684  tf. 


INTRODUCTION  3 

while  Protestantism  acknowledges  that  there  are  true 
Christians  who  do  not  read  the  Bible.^ 

Wherein,  then,  lies  the  controversy  between  the  two 
Churches,  if  we  leave  out  of  consideration  on  either 
side  prohibitions  and  regulations  of  special  scope  and 
determined  by  temporary  circumstances,  if  we  further 
leave  out  of  consideration  that  Catholicism  has  for 
centuries  forbidden  the  use  of  translations  which  it 
regards  as  false  or  doubtful,  if  we  moreover  neglect  the 
fact  that  Protestantism  disseminates  books  of  extracts 
from  the  Bible,  school  Bibles  and  the  like,  for  use  in 
place  of  the  Bible  itself?  The  difference  between  the 
two  Churches  on  this  point  may  be  expressed  in  two 
propositions : — (1)  According  to  the  Protestant  view 
the  Bible  is  a  free  gift  to  the  community  and  to  the 
individual,  without  restriction  or  reserve  ;  while  accord- 
ing to  the  Catholic  view  the  Bible  is  in  the  possession 
of  the  organised  Church,  which  is  bound  to  administer 
her  property,  as  also  the  means  of  grace,  for  the  good  of 
the  individual,  according  to  her  own  judgment  and  in 
the  spirit  of  strict  and  yet  loving  parental  care.  (2) 
According  to  the  Protestant  view  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  these  only,  are  the  ultimate  source  and  norm 
of  all    Christian    knowledge ;    while   according   to    the 

^  0.  Ritschl  has  dealt  exhaustively  with  the  question  of  Biblicism  and 
Traditionalism  in  early  Protestant  theology  in  the  first  volume  of  his 
Dogmengeschichte  des  Prolestantismus  (1908),  which  is  dedicated  ex- 
clusively to  this  question.  He  has  not,  however,  according  to  my 
recollection,  ever  touched  upon  private  Bible  reading  in  the  sense  of  a 
religious  duty,  because  Protestantism  has  never  set  up  such  a  duty. 


4      BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Catholic  view,  tradition,  together  with  the  living  word 
of  the  infallible  Church,  stands  side  by  side  with  the 
Bible  as  equal,  indeed  in  many  aspects  as  superior,  to 
it  in  authority.^ 

From  these  points  of  difference  the  difference  in 
the  attitude  of  the  two  Churches  towards  the  Holy 
Scriptures  may  be  explained  in  all  its  aspects. ^  Their 
formulation  is  dogmatic  in  character ;  we  have  here  no 
occasion  to  deal  with  them  as  such.^ 

The  Catholic  Church,  however,  asserts  that  her  judg- 
ment to-day  and  during  the  last  centuries  concerning 
the  Holy  Scriptures  is  the  same  as  it  has  ever  been. 
This  is  a  quaestio  facti  which  is  subject  to  the  control 
of  history.  It  is  true  that  the  Roman  Catholic  theo- 
logians admit  that  during  the  first  thousand  years  of 

^  "  It  is  impossible  that  the  most  intimate  and  authoritative  rule  of 
faith  should  be  the  dead  (!)  letter  of  Scripture"  (0.  Schmid,  loc.  cit., 
col.  683). 

2  We  may  mention  another  point.  The  Roman  Church  is  very 
suspicious  and  critical  in  her  attitude  towards  all  translations  of  the 
Bible  into  the  vulgar  tongue,  while  she  sets  one  translation,  the  Latin 
(in  Jerome's  version),  on  a  level  with  the  authentic  text.  She  believes 
that  on  this  condition  alone  she  can  preserve  her  hierarchic  and  homo- 
geneous character  and  can  exercise  her  controlling  influence.  It  does 
not  trouble  her  in  the  least  that  she  thus  sets  herself  in  opposition  to 
facts  of  history  ;  for  she  is  accustomed  to  this.  Of  course  she  decrees 
that  no  such  opposition  exists. 

^  The  first  of  the  Protestant  theses  shows  itself  dogmatic  if  it  is 
based  upon  the  idea  of  the  general  priesthood  ;  apart  from  this  idea  it 
is  unassailable,  because  it  only  declares  that  the  Bible,  like  any  other 
book,  is  in  principle  addressed  to  everyone,  and  that  the  reading,  though 
it  can  indeed  under  certain  circumstances  be  discouraged,  can  yet  never 
be  forbidden.  The  second  Protestant  thesis  is  purely  dogmatic,  and 
even  as  such  is  subject  to  serious  doubt. 


INTRODUCTION  5 

our  era  no  instance  of  the  prohibition  of  Bible  reading 
can  be  discovered ;  ^  but  they  contend  that  during  that 
period  the  Church  had  not  had  any  conclusive  experi- 
ence of  the  danger  of  Bible  reading.-     This  is  an  extra- 

^  They  iwv:  admit  this  {vide  0.  Schniid,  loc.  cit.,  col.  679).  "  During 
the  whole  of  the  first  thousand  years  of  the  Christian  era  no  instance 
is  known  either  of  prohibition  or  of  restriction  of  Bible  reading  on 
the  part  of  the  Church."  In  times  gone  by  attempts  have  not  been 
lacking  to  prove  instances  of  restriction.  They  are  based  upon 
St  Jerome,  ep.  liii.  7,  and  other  passages.  But  the  attempts  which 
originated  with  Bellarmine  are,  so  far  as  I  know,  now  given  up. 
Instances  of  counsel  not  to  read  such-and-such  a  book  too  soon, 
and  in  general  of  careful  supervision  of  Bible  reading,  belong  of  course 
to  quite  another  sphere.  One  can  regard  unrestricted  Bible  reading  as 
useless  and  dangerous  and  yet  still  contend  for  full  liberty  in  Bible 
reading,  because  one  regards  every  prohibition  as  the  greater  evil,  and 
accounts  it  unfit  that  grown  men  should  be  restricted  by  prohibitions. 

■'*  It  is  asserted  that  the  Waldenses  and  the  Albigenses  were  the 
first  sects  who  by  their  use  of  the  Bible  made  the  prohibition  of  Bible 
reading  appropriate  and  necessary.  It  is  true  that  decrees  against 
Bible  reading  first  began  to  appear  at  this  time.  But  this  was  not 
because  these  Bible-reading  sects  were  more  dangerous  than  the 
Bible-reading  Valentinians  and  Arians,  but  because  the  Church  in 
the  period  of  Innocent  III.  had  gained  a  greater  sense  of  power. 
Moreover,  all  prohibitive  decrees  before  the  sixteenth  century  still 
refer  partly  only  to  particular  cases  and  are  partly  conditional.  Even 
the  Tridentine  decrees  are  still  silent  ;  but  the  question  is  treated  as  a 
matter  of  principle  in  the  third  and  fourth  rules  of  the  constitution 
"  Dominici  gregis  custodiae  "  of  Pius  lY.  in  the  year  1564,  whereby  the 
Index  Librorum  Prohibitorum  was  published  for  which  the  Triden,tine 
decrees  had  made  preparation.  Still,  even  these  rules  only  refer  to 
the  translations  into  vulgar  tongues.  These  only  are  also  almost 
exclusively  referred  to  in  the  following  decrees  which  partly  accentuate, 
partly  attenuate,  the  ordinance  of  Pius  IV.,  though  they  indeed  increase 
the  power  of  the  Pope  in  these  matters.  As  Avith  all  other  important 
dogmas  and  decrees,  there  reigns  even  among  Catholic  theologians 
a  controversy,  which  discloses  absolute  disagreement,  as  to  the  present 
rule  concerning  the  Bible  reading  of  the  laity  in  the  \ailgar  tongue 
{vide  Reusch,  Der  Index  der  verholenen  Biicher  [1885],  II.  i.  S.  861  f.). 


6      BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

ordinary  assertion,  for  I  do  not  know  any  time  when 
such  experiences  were  more  vivid  and  various  than  in 
the  days  of  the  Gnostics,  the  Montanists,  the  Mon- 
archians,  the  Arians,  and  so  forth.  An  attempt  is  made 
to  escape  from  the  difficulty  by  such  futile  and  obscure 
statements  as  that  "  there  were  of  course  during  this 

Fessler  and  others  declare  that  according  to  the  decree  of  Benedict 
XIV.  there  does  not  really  exist  for  Catholics  any  decree  against 
Bible  reading,  seeing  that  translations  into  the  vulgar  tongue  which 
are  approved  by  the  Apostolic  See  or  are  supplied  with  notes  from 
the  Fathers  or  from  other  Catholic  scholars  are  subject  to  no  prohibi- 
tion, so  that  their  use  must  be  regarded  as  allowed.  Others, 
however,  are  of  the  contrary  opinion.  In  the  case  of  Germany  there 
is  besides  the  question  of  the  legal  validity  of  the  constitution  of  1564. 
Now  we  come  to  the  question  whether  the  Bible  in  the  Latin  Vulgate 
version  has  also  been  withdrawn  from  the  laity.  Here  the  condemna- 
tion of  several  pertinent  propositions  of  the  Jansenists  in  the  bull 
"Unigenitus"  of  the  year  1713  comes  into  consideration.  In  this 
bull  the  following  propositions  are  condemned  :  "  Utile  et  necessarium 
est  omni  tempore,  omni  loco  et  omni  personarum  generi  studere  et 
cognoscere  spiritum,  pietatem,  et  mysteria  sacrae  scripturae "  (79)  ; 
"  Lectio  sacrae  scripturae  est  pro  omnibus  "  (80)  ;  "  Obscuritas  sancti 
verbi  Dei  non  est  laicis  ratio  dispensandi  se  ipsos  ab  eius  lectione  " 
(81)  ;  **  Dies  dominicus  a  Christianis  debet  sanctificari  lectionibus 
pietatis  et  super  omnia  sanctarum  scripturarum  ;  damnosus  est,  velle 
Christianum  ab  hac  lectione  retrahere  "  (82) ;  "Abripere  e  Christian- 
orum  manibus  Novum  Testamentum  ...  est  illis  Christi  os  obturare  " 
(84);  "  Interdicere  Christianis  lectionem  sacrae  scripturae,  praesertim 
evangelii,  est  interdicere  usum  luminis  filiis  lucis  et  facere,  ut  patiantur 
speciem  quandam  excommunicationis  "  (85).  Can  we  then  say  that 
this  bull  is  only  directed  against  the  use  of  the  Bible  in  the  vulgar 
tongue  ?  It  is  surely  concerned  with  the  principle  whether  the  laity 
should  be  allowed  any  unrestricted  use  of  the  Bible  at  all.  Though 
in  actual  practice  this  view  may  be  laxly  enforced  in  some  Roman 
Catholic  countries,  in  others  it  is  only  the  more  strictly  enforced  ; 
and  even  where  the  laxer  practice  prevails,  it  is  always  under  the 
principle  that  the  Church  has  the  right  to  regulate  the  use  of  the 
Bible  by  the  laity — that  is,  to  limit  and  to  forbid  it. 


INTRODUCTION  7 

period  many  heretical  sects  that  appealed  to  Holy 
Scripture  in  support  of  their  systems  of  doctrine ;  but 
the  appeal  was  made  only  to  particular  passages,  and  no 
assertion  was  made  as  to  the  principle  of  Bible  reading 
such  as  could  have  summoned  the  Church  to  a  clear  and 
definite  statement  on  this  question.''  ^  "  Only  particular 
passages  " :  When  has  the  Bible  ever  been  made  use  of 
in  another  way  ?  "  No  assertion  as  to  the  principle  of 
Bible  reading^'' :  Is  it  then  the  Catholic  view  that  the 
danger  in  the  use  of  the  Bible  is  only  dependent  upon 
the  assertion  as  to  the  principle  of  Bible  reading  ?  No 
— the  simple  fact  that  until  late  in  the  Middle  Ages  no 
decree  was  published  against  Bible  reading  does  not 
indeed  prove,  yet  makes  it  at  least  highly  probable, 
that  the  Catholic  Church  at  that  time  held  quite  other 
views  concerning  its  own  relation  to  the  Holy  Scripture, 
that  is,  concerning  its  right  to  siipervise  the  laity  in  their 
reading  of  the  Bible,  than  at  later  times.  In  order  to 
weigh  the  value  of  this  probability,  to  elevate  it  even  to 
the  rank  of  historical  certainty,  it  is  necessary  to  study 
the  history  of  the  private  use  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in 
the  Early  Church.  If  the  result  of  our  investigation  be 
that  no  decree  was  at  that  time  ever  issued  against 
Bible  reading,  but  rather  that  all  without  exception 
were  exhorted  to  read  the  Bible,  that  the  Bible  was  in 
the  hands  of  multitudes  of  laymen,  that  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Bible  was  left  even  to  laymen,  that  in  fine, 
though  the  dangers  of  Bible  reading  did  not  escape 
^  0.  Schmid,  loc.  ciL,  col.  679  f. 


8      BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

observation,  yet  still  nothing  was  done  to  meet  them  by 
means  of  restrictions  upon  reading — then  we  can  no 
longer  suppose  that  the  Catholic  Church  held  indeed  at 
that  time  the  same  views  concerning  the  Holy  Scriptures 
as  it  does  to-day,  but  that,  oblivious  of  its  duty,  it  did  not 
put  them  into  force.  We  must  rather  conclude  that 
during  that  long  period  of  many  centuries  the  Church 
was  convinced  that  every  individual  Christian  had  a 
right  to  the  Bible,  and  that  it  did  not  belong  to  the 
Church  to  restrict  this  right. 

II 

Lessing,  by  his  controversy  with  Goeze,  has  earned  the 
immortal  glory  of  having  broken  the  spell  of  the  dogma 
of  the  Bible.  Under  this  dogma  Protestantism  suffered 
in  yet  higher  degree  than  Catholicism.  We  can  to-day 
scarcely  imagine  with  what  crushing  weight  this  dogma 
pressed  upon  religion,  upon  the  spheres  of  historical 
investigation  and  all  other  realms  of  culture,  while  its 
spell  still  prevailed  unbroken ;  indeed,  even  those  theo- 
logians who  imagine  that  they  still  hold  fast  to  this 
dogma  have  no  suspicion  how  the  bells  sounded  before 
they  were  cracked!  In  their  looser  theological  argu- 
ments they  in  some  places  make  play  with  the  doctrines 
of  the  inspiration,  infallibility,  clearness,  and  sufficiency 
of  Holy  Scripture  ;  in  a  hundred  other  places  they  know 
nothing  of  these  formidable  things,  and  they  make  use 
of  the  freedom  which,  since  Lessing,  has  pressed  forward 
in    irresistible   progress.     In    earlier   times  theologians 


INTRODUCTION  9 

were  much  more  logical  than  their  orthodox  successors ; 
they  knew  what  it  meant  to  possess  an  inspired  book, 
and  what  demands  such  a  possession  implied. 

It  is  true  that  even  they  were  not  fully  conscious  of 
this ;  even  they  allowed  themselves  to  make  deductions  ; 
otherwise  sense  and  reason  would  have  broken  down.^ 

^  They  attenuated  and  in  a  hundred  instances  did  not  draw  the 
conchisions  which  resulted  from  the  nature  of  a  divine  book.     In  a 
hundred  instances  they  treated  it  as  an  ordinary  book  because  it  was 
simply  impossible  to  draw  all  the  conclusions  implied  by  the  divine 
character  of  a  book.     Is,  for  example,  such  a  book  translatable  ?     The 
Alexandrian   Jews   at  least  were  logical   enough   to  see  that  it  was 
impossible,  and  indeed  blasphemous,  for  men  to  do  this.     They  there- 
fore  made  a  virtue  of  necessity  and  straightway  claimed  that  their 
translation  also  was  inspired.     The  Roman  Church  could  not  be  so 
bold  ;  but  the  ambiguous  and  timid  decree  of  the  Council  of  Trent 
that  the  Vulgate  should  be  held  pro  authentica,  and  that  no  one  should 
dare  or  claim  to  reject  it,  runs  along  the  same  lines.     Also  in  the 
repugnance  which  large  circles  of  Lutherans  have  always  felt  to  any 
improvement  of  Luther's  translation  there  lies  a  grain  of  that  correct 
logic  according  to  which  the  authorised  version  of  the  sacred  volume 
must  have  stood  under  a  p)'ovidentia  Dei  specialissima,  if  it  was  to 
reproduce  correctly  the  wording  of  the  sacred  original.     Moreover,  an 
inspired  document  is  not  only  untranslatable  without  the  same  divine 
assistance  that  created  it,  but  it  is  also  uninterpretable.     Catholicism 
is   therefore   absolutely  in  the  right  in  its   claim   that  the   power  of 
interpreting  Holy  Scripture  lies  only  in  the  Church,  which  alone  has 
the  promise  to  be  led  by  the  Holy  Spirit  into  all  truth.     Inspiration 
and  a   sacred   court   of  interpretation   necessarily  hang  together.     If 
Protestantism  substitutes  the  endowment  of  each  individual  Christian 
with   the   Holy  Spirit,  this   exi)edient  is  unsatisfactory  for  the  very 
reason  that  no  provision  is  made  for  the  case,  which  again  and  again 
recurs  with   each  passage   of  Scripture,  that   the  interpretations   are 
divergent.     Of  course  the  sacred  tribunal  of  interpretation  is  also  an 
impossibility  if  its  decisions  must  admit  the  control  of  philology  and 
grammar.     The   doctrine  of  inspiration  has  at  all  times  been   taken 
seriously  only  as  a  question  of  dogmatics  and  upon  paper,  and  as  such 
has  gained  simply  a  kind   of  phantom  existence.      In  practice,  its 


10    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

A  sacred  document  of  a  thousand  pages  written  by  the 
finger  of  God  is  a  burden  too  insupportable  for  frail 
mankind,  whether  it  is  read  or  no.  It  is  by  far  the 
easier  course  not  to  read,  to  let  others  read,  and  to 
endure  the  prick  of  conscience  that  one  does  not  read 
oneself.  In  truth,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  timid  and 
tentative  efforts  were  made  here  and  there,  and  quite 
late  in  time,  to  forbid  Bible  reading;  rather  it  is 
wonderful  that  Mother  Church  was  not  more  fertile  in 
expedients  for  enabling  her  children  to  avoid  approach 
to  this  burning  mountain.  The  best  book  of  edifica- 
tion and  comfort  must  indeed  become  a  devouring  fire 
if  it  is  to  have  God  for  its  author  ;i  moreover,  the 
questionings,  the  doubts,  and  the  difficulties  aroused  by 
its  contents,  and  above  all  by  its  discrepancies,  must 
disturb  and  perplex  the  man  who  is  at  all  earnest  and 
conscientious.  Away  then  with  these  oracles  into  the 
remotest  cupboard  of  the  sacristy  !  Better  that  a  man 
should  die  without  the  Bible  than  of  the  Bible !  And 
yet  the  Bible  does  demand  that  man  should  read  it. 

consequences  are  either  not  drawn  at  all,  or  only  in  a  half-hearted  way, 
because  they  simply  cannot  be  drawn  ;  human  life  could  not  endure 
them. 

1  Innocent  III.  had  some  suspicion  of  this  when  he  wrote  (1199)  to 
the  Christians  of  the  diocese  of  Metz  in  reference  to  the  question  of 
Bible  reading  by  the  laity  (in  the  vulgar  tongue) :  "  Tanta  est  divinae 
scripturae  profunditas,  ut  non  solum  simplices  et  illiterati,  sed  etiam 
prudentes  et  docti  non  plene  sufficiant  ad  ipsius  intelligentiam 
indagandam  .  .  .  unde  rede  fuit  olim  in  lege  divina  statittam  ut 
hestia  quae  montem  tetigerit,  lapidetur,  ne  videlicet  simplex  aliquis  et 
indoctus  praesumat  ad  sublimitatem  scripturae  sacrae  pertingere  vel 
earn  aliis  praedicare. " 


INTRODUCTION  1 1 

But  the  Cluirch  became  bold  and  ingenious ;  side  by 
side  with  the  Bible  she  set  up  a  rule  of  faith,  and  then 
announced  that  this  rule  contained  the  full  essence  of 
Holy  Scripture,  and  that  the  spiritual  not  the  literal 
sense  of  the  Bible  was  the  true  sense.  The  relief  that 
this  brought  was  simply  incalculable ;  for  this  spiritual 
sense  was  in  fact  her  own  experience,  her  own  religious 
thought  and  practice.  Now  she  was  rid  of  the  terror  of 
terrors !  By  means  of  allegory  and  of  authoritative 
doctrine — which  itself  included  a  large  element  of  her 
own  independent  creation  as  well  as  the  reflex  of  the 
fundamental  historical  facts — the  Church  delivered 
herself  from  Holy  Scripture  in  so  far  as  it  pressed  upon 
her  as  a  crushing  burden. 

But  then  came  the  Reformation,  which  shattered 
authoritative  doctrine  and  the  allegorical  method,  and 
brought  Scripture  again  into  the  foreground.  It  is 
true  that  from  another  point  of  view  the  Reformation 
strengthened  the  authority  of  dogma,  and  from  the 
analogia  fidei  fashioned  an  allegorical  method  of  its 
own ;  but  against  the  authority  of  Mother  Church, 
which  had  become  an  insupportable  tyranny,  the 
Reformation  had  nothing  to  oppose  but  the  authority 
of  Scripture.  The  Reformers  intended,  of  course,  to 
follow  what  was  primitive  and  original  in  place  of  what 
was  late  and  corrupt,  to  be  disciples  of  Jesus  instead  of 
being  slaves  of  the  Pope ;  but  with  the  Scripture  as  the 
fundamental  document  of  primitive  Christian  life  men 
found  themselves  also  caught  in  the  dead  letter  of  its 


12    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

thousand  pages.  Luther,  it  is  true,  felt  the  necessity 
of  freeing  himself  from  the  incubus  of  the  Bible  in  its 
every  word,  and  in  bold,  courageous  faith  he  set  himself 
again  and  again  to  thrust  it  from  him ;  but  the  time 
had  not  yet  come  for  the  knowledge  that  would  have 
supplied  him  with  a  fulcrum  for  firm  leverage.  It  was 
grandly  audacious  to  assert  that  the  Scripture  was  only 
authoritative  in  so  far  as  it  pointed  to  Christ ;  it  was 
still  more  audacious  to  assert  that  faith,  even  in  using 
Scripture,  need  only  follow  her  own  law  :  yet  Luther 
could  not  really  justify  these  propositions  so  long  as  he 
was  faced  by  a  document  inspired  in  every  word.  Pro- 
testantism as  Luther  bequeathed  it  to  his  successors 
remained  involved  in  most  acute  contradiction.  It 
claimed  to  know  nothing  save  Christ  and  Him  crucified, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  be  the  absolute  religion  of 
the  Bible. 

Christian  faith  and  a  Christian  Church  existed  before 
ever  there  was  a  New  Testameiit,  Lessing  did  not  indeed 
discover  this  historical  fact,  but  he  first  recognised  its 
decisive  importance,  and  with  the  power  of  genius 
established  it  as  current  truth.  Never  has  a  simpler 
incident  had  a  grander  result.  From  this  time  dates 
the  gradual  dissolution  of  orthodox  Protestantism  ; 
henceforth  it  could  free  itself  from  the  burden  of  the 
letter,  the  burden  of  the  Bible,  to  receive  in  exchange 
the  Bible  as  the  fundamental  historical  document  of 
relidon  and  a  book  of  comfort  that  knows  no  terror. 
The  complete  freedom  and  liberty  of  man,  bound  only 


INTRODUCTION  13 

by  the  service  of  God,  the  ideal  that  moved  before  the 
eyes  of  Luther,  was  now  no  longer  kept  in  bondage  by 
the  authority  of  a  voluminous  and  despotic  document. 

As  is  well  known,  Lessing  himself  in  his  controversy 
with  Goeze^  developed  the  consequences  of  his  dis- 
covery only  tentatively  and  very  cautiously  both  in 
general  and  in  reference  to  the  New  Testament.  As 
to  the  reason  of  this  procedure  opinions  vary ;  we 
cannot  here  enter  into  the  question.^  However,  to- 
wards the  close  the  controversy  narrowed  itself  down 
to  the  problem  of  the  relation  of  the  Creed  to  Holy 
Scripture,  and  in  this  connection  Lessing  published  in 
the  year  1778  the  treatise,  A  Necessary  Answer  to  a 
very  Unnecessary  Question  of  Herr  Goeze,  Chief  Pastor 
in  Hamburg.^  This  treatise,  which  starts  from  the 
question  whether  the  Christian  religion  could  still  exist 
even  if  the  Bible  were  absolutely  lost^  if  it  had  been  long 
ago  lost^  if  it  had  never  existed,  leads  up  to  twenty 
propositions  concerning  the  historical  relation  of  Creed 
and  Scripture.  These  propositions  expound  Lessing's 
fundamental  thought  that  the  rule  of  Faith  is  more 
ancient  than  the  New  Testament,  and  that  the  Church 
at  first  developed  and  grew  without  the  New  Testa- 
ment. The  thought  itself  is  historically  correct,  and  has 
shattered  the  tyranny  of  ancient  Protestant  dogma,  l^ut 
the  propositions  in  themselves  rest  upon  a  very  question- 

1  Cf.  above  all  Erich  Schmidt,  Lessing,  Bd.  ii.^  (1899),  S.  248  ff., 
273  ff.,  296  ff.,  313  ff. 

2  Cf.  E.  Schmidt,  S.  294  ff.     The  treatment  here  is  excellent. 

3  Hempel's  edition,  Bd.  xvi.  S.  213-218. 


14    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

able  foundation ;  few  only  of  them,  taken  in  the  letter, 
can  be  held  to  be  historical ;  most  of  them  are  set  forth 
in  far  too  general  and  careless  fashion,  while  a  very  con- 
siderable part  of  them  is  simply  false.  We  have  here 
an  opportunity  of  studying  how  the  proof  of  a  great 
conception  may  break  down  in  detail  although  the 
conception  itself  may  be  essentially  correct.  Lessing,  it 
is  true,  concluded  his  propositions  with  the  astounding 
assertion :  "  I  have  gathered  these  propositions  from 
my  own  careful  and  constant  reading  of  the  Fathers  of 
the  first  four  centuries,  and  in  defence  and  examination 
of  them  I  am  in  the  position  to  meet  the  most  learned 
patristic  scholars.  The  best-read  scholar  has  had  in  this 
connection  no  further  sources  of  information  than  myself. 
The  best-read  cannot  accordingly  know  more  than  I, 
neither  is  it  true  that  in  order  to  deal  thoroughly  with 
all  these  questions  such  deep  and  extensive  knowledge 
is  required  as  many  indeed  imagine  and  would  gladly 
persuade  the  world.'"* 

The  ninth  of  these  propositions  runs  as  follows : 
"  The  laymen  of  the  primitive  Church  might  not  even  read 
the  hooks  of  the  New  Testament^  not  at  least  without  the 
permission  of  the  freshyter  who  had  them  in  his  keeping ""  ;  ^ 

1  Moreover,  in  the  ' '  Axiomata"  (viii. ,  Bd.  xvi.  S.  124) :  "Manuscripts 
[of  the  Bible]  were  scarcest  in  the  first  and  second  centuries,  and  indeed  so 
scarce  that  a  large  community  would  only  possess  a  single  codex,  which 
the  presbyters  of  the  community  kept  under  lock  and  key,  and  which 
no  one  might  read  without  their  special  permission.  .  .  .  It  is  an  ab- 
solute fact  that  the  Bible,  even  before  the  ninth  century,  was  never  in 
the  hands  of  the  ordinary  layman.  The  ordinary  layman  never  learned 
more  from  it  than  the  clergy  chose  to  impart." 


INTRODUCTION  15 

and  again  the  tenth  :  "  It  was  indeed  accounted  no  d'lght 
offence  in  the  laymen  of  the  primitive  Church  if  they 
gave  greater  credence  to  tJie  written  word  of  an  apostle 
than  to  the  living  word  of  their  bishop''';  and  the 
twelfth  :  "  During  the  first  four  centuries  the  Christian 
religion  was  never  based  upon  the  writings  of  the  New 
Testament;  the  most  that  can  be  asserted  is  that  these 
were  used  as  a  subsidiaiy  means  of  explanation  and 
corroboration.'''' 

These  remarkable  statements  stand  only  in  a  very 
loose  connection  with  the  main  thesis  which  Lessing 
wished  to  prove — he  could  indeed  have  absolutely  dis- 
pensed with  them  in  his  proof — and  they  could  not  but 
arouse  in  those  who  were  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
literature  of  the  Early  Church  feelings  of  absolute 
astonishment.  It  is  true  that  a  great  critic,  Semler, 
had  already  asserted  similar  views  in  regard  to  the 
ninth  proposition,  but  he  spoke  only  incidentally,  and 
the  passage  lies  hidden  in  the  body  of  his  works.^ 
Lessing's  controversy  with  Goeze,  however,  attracted 
the  notice  of  the  theological  world,  and  men  now 
read  the    objectionable   propositions  in  plain  German 

^  Semler,  Comment,  de  antiquo  statu  ecclesiae,  p.  37:  "Erant  isti 
omues  libri  [the  Holy  Scriptures]  in  inanibus  doctorum  et  ministrorum, 
non  puerorum,  mulierum,  populi  uuiversi."  P.  68:  "  Vel  bine  ex- 
istimare  licet,  quam  absit  a  vero,  quod  plerique  adhuc  putant,  librorum 
sacrorum  usum  fuisse  et  populo  communem."  P.  71:  "  Nemini 
catechumenorum  usum  sacrorum  libroruiu  fuisse  liberum."  We  may 
indeed  suppose  that  Lessing's  position  was  not  independent  of  these 
statements  of  Semler  ;  for  it  can  scarcely  be  believed  that  the  two  men 
arrived  independently  at  such  a  false  and  paradoxical  conclusion. 


16    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

speech  and  in  the  most  distinct  and  clear-cut 
formulation. 

The  most  learned  German  patristic  scholar  of  the 
time  was  Chr.  W.  Franz  Walch  of  Gottingen ;  his 
renown  was  world-wide.  He  roused  himself  to  reply,  and 
in  the  very  next  year  after  the  Necessary  Answer  to  a 
very  Unnecessary  Question  there  appeared  a  work  from 
him  entitled  :  A  Critical  Investigation  of  the  Use  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  among  the  Early  Christians  of  the  first 
four  centuries.^ 

In  the  second  chapter  (S.  26-163)  a  perfect  cloud  of 
witnesses  for  the  unrestricted  use  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
(that  is,  for  the  early  Protestant  view  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures)  is  most  industriously  collected ;  in  the  third 
and  fourth  chapters  the  evidence  they  afford  is  marshalled 
in  order,  and  all  the  questions  which  stand  in  any  con- 
nection with  the  main  theme  are  discussed.  The  result 
is  that  these  three  theses  of  Lessing — though  these  only 
— are  proved  to  be  baseless,  because  all  historical  evidence 
is  against  them  ;  so  much  so  that  the  readers  are  simply 
left  in  absolute  consternation  that  a  man  of  the  scholar- 
ship and  fame  of  Lessing  could  have  had  the  audacity 
to  make  such  assertions.  And  yet  Walch  does  not 
point  the  finger  for  the  reader;  he  makes  absolutely 
no  mention  of  Lessing's  name  in  these  three  chapters  of 
his  treatise.  Only  in  the  first  introductory  chapter  does 
he  mention  him  (and  Semler),  and  with  caustic  severity 
expresses  himself  as  follows  :  "  Herr  Hofrat  Lessing,  in 
^^  Leipzig,  1779  (S.  221). 


INTRODUCTION  17 

the  controversy  which  he  has  carried  on  with  Herr 
Pastor  Goeze,  has  gone  much  further  [than  Semler] 
and  has  sketched  out  a  completely  new  system  of  the 
rational  basis  of  doctrine  among  the  early  Christians — 
a  system  which  assigns  to  the  primitive  adherents  of  the 
Christian  religion  the  same  ideas  concerning  the  books 
of  the  Bible,  and  particularly  of  the  New  Testament,  as 
those  held  by  himself  Only  one  part  of  this  system 
does  he  share  with  Herr  Semler ;  the  greatest  part  is  his 
own  property  in  so  strict  a  sense  that  even  the  most 
active  champions  of  blind  faith  and  the  most  violent 
opponents  of  the  right  of  the  people  to  read  the  Bible 
— those  men  of  the  Roman  Church  who  wish  to  support 
their  views  by  arguments  from  history — can  advance 
no  claim  to  them.  Now  all  these  statements  are 
advanced  without  a  show  of  proof,  though  they  are 
accompanied  by  an  assurance  that  the  Hofrat  is  pre- 
pared to  prove  them  all.  I  hope  that  no  one  will 
assume  from  these  words  of  mine  that  my  treatise  has  a 
polemical  purpose,  that  I  wish  to  refute  the  position 
of  Dr  Semler  or  of  Hofrat  Lessing.  I  cannot  do  this, 
because  neither  of  them  has  so  far  given  any  reasons 
which  can  be  answered.  Rather  I  would  assure  my 
readers  that  my  present  intention  is  to  investigate  the 
question  in  cold  blood  and  as  calmly  as  if  I  had  heard 
nothing  of  this  controversy,  and  I  would  wish  them  to 
read  what  I  have  written  in  the  like  spirit.*" 

The  learned  writer,  in  thus  ranking  Lessing  with  the 
most  violent  champions  of  blind  faith,  as  indeed  surpass- 

2 


18    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

ing  them  all,  could  not  well  have  shown  greater  lack  of 
appreciation.^  But  it  is  still  more  pitiful  that  Walch, 
because  of  his  complete  want  of  appreciation  of  Lessing's 
main  thesis,  so  revolutionary,  so  triumphantly  true, 
wished  to  prove  far  too  much,  and  therefore  has  not 
only  weakened  the  force  but  also  obscured  the  import 
of  that  which  he  really  has  proved.  His  demonstration 
undoubtedly  involves  the  complete  refutation  of  Lessing's 
ninth  proposition  (also  of  the  tenth  and  twelfth) ;  but 
since  Walch,  in  the  evidence  which  he  produces  as  to 
the  use  of  Holy  Scripture,  does  not  everywhere  distinguish 
between  the  public  and  private  use — although  the  whole 
question  in  dispute  is  the  relation  of  the  latter  to  the 
former — and  since  he  believed  that  he  could  also  refute 
the  remaining  and  much  more  important  propositions 
of  Lessing  (concerning  the  relation  of  Creed  to  Scripture) 
by  simply  marshalling  his  evidence,  without  attempting 
to  comprehend  the  essential  point  of  the  problem,  he  at 
once,  and  especially  in  conflict  with  a  critic  of  the  calibre 
of  Lessing,  laid  himself  open  to  the  sharpest  retorts  and 
imperilled  the  success  of  his  learned  work  in  the  points 
where  he  was  in  the  right. 

What  did  Lessing  now  do  ?  Walch's  book  engaged 
his  most  active  attention  ;  but  he  was  not  able  to  publish 
any  reply — that  is,  we  can  only  gather  his  answer  from 
his  literary  remains.  A  man  may  not  be  held  respons- 
ible for  what  is  found  in  his  literary  remains ;  in  this 

^  The  concluding  passages  of  his  book  (S.  214  f.)  show  how  seriously 
Walch  meant  this  reproach  against  Lessing. 


INTRODUCTION  19 

case,  moreover,  we  can  only  regret  that  these  fragments 
have  remained  mere  fragments. 

In  the  first  place,  in  the  fragment  "  Bibliolatrie ''  of 
the  remains  is  found  the  following  passage  :  ^  "  Scarcely 
does  Goeze  see  that  I  have  resolved  to  take  up  the 
question  in  earnest  than  he  proceeds  to  adopt  his 
favourite  tactics.  He  at  once  turns  his  back  upon  me, 
and  with  an  impertinent  cry  of  victory  courageously 
retreats.  '  But  wait  a  while,'  thinks  the  clerical  hero  ; 
*  I  will  soon  send  another  who  will  do  for  you.' 
And  indeed  a  third  combatant,  whose  learning  and 
discretion  would  scarcely  lead  one  to  suppose  that 
he  knew  more  of  Goeze  than  his  name,  has  the 
loyalty  to  take  his  place  —  the  place  of  Goeze  ! 
What  can  now  prevent  me  from  giving  the  name 
of  this  new  combatant,  seeing  that  his  treatise  lies 
before  the  eyes  of  the  world  ?  Professor  Walch  of 
Gcittingen  expressly  states,  in  his  Critical  Investigation 
of  the  Use  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  (S.  25),  that  he  has 
not  written  against  me.  But  I  hold  that  his  book  is 
the  more  directed  against  me  seeing  that  he  gives  so 
strange  a  reason  for  not  having  written  against  me. 
'  I  cannot,'  says  the  professor,  '  have  the  polemical 
purpose  of  refuting  Hofrat  Lessing,  because  up  to  the 
present  he  has  given  no  reasons  that  can  be  answered.' 
Seeing,  then,  that  the  professor  cannot  attack  me,  does 
he  mean  to  take  the  precaution  of  removing  out  of  the 
way  weapons  which  I  might  be  able  to  use  ?  If  I  now 
1  Bd.  xvii.  S.  164  tf. 


20    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

hasten  to  lay  hold  of  some  of  these,  who  can  complain 
of  me  ?  Surely  not  the  professor  at  least.  For  I  hasten 
at  the  same  time  to  justify  myself  in  his  eyes.  And  in 
whose  eyes  can  it  be  more  fitting  for  me  to  justify 
myself  than  in  the  eyes  of  one  whom  the  whole  of 
Germany  regards  as  the  most  competent  umpire  in  these 
questions?  Let  him  then  be  my  judge;  only  let  him 
first  hear  all  that  I  have  to  say !  Only  let  him  learn  of 
me,  not  from  Goeze,  but  from  myself!  And  even  if 
Goeze's  cause  is  the  cause  of  the  Church,  let  him  at  least 
distinguish  between  the  cause  and  the  advocate  who  sets 
himself  to  plead  it.'' 

After  this  introduction,  in  which  Lessing's  praise 
of  Walch  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  ironical — though 
he  felt  indeed  justifiably  injured  by  Walch's  assur- 
ance that  he  was  not  thinking  of  him,  —  Lessing 
proceeds  to  sketch  in  full  a  comprehensive  plan  of 
an  answer  to  Walch ;  the  plan,  however,  is  not  here 
carried  out. 

In  the  manuscript,  "  Additional  Notes  to  a  Necessary 
Answer  to  a  Most  Unnecessary  Question  in  the  author's 
own  hand,"^  is  found  (§19)  the  illuminating  statement : 
"  As  the  Creed  is  regula  fidei^  so  the  Scripture  is  regula 
disciplinae.''''  With  the  help  of  this  proposition  Lessing, 
in  his  controversy  with  Walch,  would  have  made  honour- 
able retreat  in  that  wherein  he  was  wrong,^  and  on  the 
other  hand  would  have  been  able  to  compel  Walch  to 

1  Bd.  xvii.  S.  170  fif. 

2  In  his  statement  concerning  the  use  of  Holy  Scripture. 


INTRODUCTION  21 

a  compromise  on  the  main  question.^  But  he  himself 
did  not  yet  see  so  ftir  as  this.  In  his  literary  remains 
is  found  another  short  and  fragmentary  piece :  "  Con- 
cerning the  Traditores.  From  a  letter  of  G.  E.  Lessing 
to  Dr  Walch  announcing  a  fuller  treatise  of  the  former."  - 
If  I  rightly  understand  the  import  of  this  fragment,  it 
was  Lessing's  intention  to  show  that  shortly  before  the 
time  of  the  Traditores,  i.e.  at  the  end  of  the  third  century, 
a  new  conception  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  (involving  a 
new  method  of  use)  had  taken  form  among  a  section 
of  the  Christians.  This  new  conception  was  the  same 
as  that  which,  according  to  Lessing's  original  statement, 
did  not  exist  in  the  primitive  Church.  If  I  am  right, 
Lessing,  convinced  by  Walch's  production  of  evidence 
for  the  fourth  century,  was  willing  to  confine  his  thesis 
to  the  first  three  centuries.^  What  he  says  concerning 
the  persecution  of  Diocletian  is  on  the  whole  very  good, 
but  his  remarks   against    Walch  are  only  superficially 

^  The  relation  of  Creed  and  Scripture. 

2  Bd.  xvii.  S.  183  ff. 

s  This  also  follows  from  the  conclusion  of  the  next  passage.  There 
(S.  225  f. )  Lessing,  when  in  his  examination  of  Walch's  cloud  of 
witnesses  he  had  come  to  Athanasius,  writes  thus  :  ' '  Athanasius  ?  and 
who  else  ?  Simply  men  with  whom  begins  the  second  period  of  the 
Church  and  who  can  only  be  assigned  to  the  fourth  century.  If  I  may 
confess  the  truth  to  your  Worship,  I  should  scarcely  have  thought  of  all 
these  in  this  connection.  It  is  true  that  I  everywhere  assert  thab  my 
propositions  are  true  for  the  first  four  centuries.  But  I  really  believed 
that  it  was  permissible  to  express  oneself  thus  generally,  though  one 
actually  meant  only  the  first  period  (up  to  Constantine  and  the  Nicene 
Council)."  We  can  only  shako  our  heads,  and  the  more  so  seeing  that 
Lessing  himself  adds  :  ' '  Your  Worship  will  now  say  that  this  narrower 
limitation  of  my  proposition  is  nothing  else  than  a  pitiful  feint." 


22    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

correct,  and  his  attempt  to  prove  that  a  new  concep- 
tion of  the  Bible  and  a  new  method  of  use  arose 
towards  the  end  of  the  third  century,  had  it  been 
carried  into  execution,  would  necessarily  have  proved  a 
complete  failure. 

Lastly,  among  the  literary  remains  are  found  two 
other  fragments,!  entitled,  "So-called  Letters  to  Dr 
Walch,''  the  second  of  which,  carefully  elaborated  but 
not  completed,  bears  the  title:  "  G.  E.  L.  Concern- 
ing the  Traditores.  Accompanied  by  a  letter  to  His 
Worship  Dr  C.  W.  F.  Walch  of  Gottingen,  concerning 
his  '  Critical  Investigation  of  the  Use  of  Holy  Scripture 
among  the  Early  Christians  of  the  first  four  centuries.' 
6  eXeyx^^  jut-era  Trapprjorlag  elprivoiroLel.  Berlin,  1780."'' 
In  this  fragment  there  is  no  mention,  however,  made  of 
the  Traditores;  but  a  part  only  of  the  "letter''  has 
come  down  to  us.^  The  chief  subject,  i.e.  the  treatise 
concerning  the  Traditores,  to  which  the  "  letter ''  was 
intended  to  be  an  appendix,  has  accordingly  come  down 
to  us  only  in  the  short  version  of  the  fragment  referred  to 
in  the  preceding  paragraph.  This  first  shorter  letter  is 
simply  introductory,  but  from  its  character  we  can  clearly 
discern  the  spirit  and  temper  in  which  Lessing  intended 
to  compose  his  reply  to  Walch — respectful,  peaceable, 
and  yet  with  firm  conviction,  just  as  we  find  in  the 
fragment  "  Bibliolatrie "  above  mentioned,  passages  of 
which    appear    again    word    for   word   in    this   letter. 

1  Bd.  xvii.  S.  197  ff.,  S.  199-229. 

*  Not  much  of  it,  however,  can  be  lacking. 


INTRODUCTION  23 

Lessing  gives  here  no  hint  that  Walch  has  shaken 
him  in  his  opinion,  he  only  complains :  ^  "  [I  am] 
one  who  has  not  infrequently  experienced  the  strange 
misfortune  to  be  misunderstood  in  the  most  extra- 
ordinary way  by  the  very  people  to  whom  one  might 
have  believed  that  one's  statements  would  be  most 
welcome.  This  misfortune  which  dogs  my  footsteps 
has,  I  imagine,  done  me  no  little  injury  even  with  your 
Worship ;  for  I  might  in  the  very  first  place  complain 
that  Dr  Walch  would  rather  learn  of  me  from  Goeze 
than  from  myself." 

If  Lessing  in  his  reply  would  only  have  kept  distinct 
from  one  another  his  two  propositions  that  the  Creed 
was  independent  of  and  older  than  the  New  Testament, 
and  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  were  not  allowed  to  be 
read  by  the  laity  !  They  have  almost  nothing  to  do 
with  one  another,  and  the  former  proposition  is  as  right 
as  the  latter  is  false.  Did  Lessing  himself  fail  to  see 
that  they  must  be  kept  apart,  or  did  he  indeed  see  this, 
but  only  held  the  more  firmly  to  his  view  after  he  had 
read  Walch's  treatise  ?  At  all  events,  he  seems  to  have 
been  convinced  that  he  has  not  yielded  to  Walch. 
Yet  he  justifies  his  position  only  at  the  point  where  he 
was  actually  in  the  right — the  point,  namely,  "  that  the 
early  Christians  did  not  derive  their  doctrines  from  the 
writings  of  the  New  Testament,  but  from  an  earlier 
source  whence  the  New  Testament,  and,  if  I  may  venture 
the  word,  its  canonicity,  were  themselves  derived."'  He 
^  Loc.  cit.,  S.  199. 


24    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

then  proceeds  in  this  "  letter  "  to  investigate  in  the  most 
scholarly  fashion  numerous  passages  from  the  Fathers  ;  ^ 
but  he  is  silent  concerning  his  own  ninth  proposition,  as 
if  this  also  were  proved  true  by  his  demonstration  that 
the  New  Testament  was  not  in  point  of  time  the  primal 
source  of  Christian  doctrine.  Moreover,  all  the  passages 
from  the  Fathers  are  not  well  handled  ;  indeed,  a  sentence 
of  Ignatius,  which  did  not  suit  Lessing's  case,  is  absolutely 
falsified  by  a  most  audacious  conjecture.^  And  yet  this 
large  fragment  of  a  controversial  treatise  is  certainly 
worthy  of  the  genius  of  Lessing :  the  amateur  in  early 
Christian  literature  shows  Walch,  the  learned  patristic 
scholar,  how  little  he  (Walch)  had  entered  into  the 
essential  spirit  of  his  texts,  but — nothing  is  said  con- 
cerning the  use  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  by  the  laity.^ 

^  Again  at  tlie  very  commencement  reference  is  made  to  the  significant 
distinction  between  regula  fidei  and  rerjula  disciplinac ;  but  un- 
fortunately the  reader  has  no  complete  information  as  to  the  way  in 
which  Lessing  intended  to  develop  this  distinction.  However,  in  the 
statement  that  Walch's  collection  of  passages  from  the  Fathers  showed 
that  the  early  Christians  held  the  New  Testament  as  the  regula  dis- 
ciplinae  (Lessing  says :  simply  as  regula  disciplinac)  there  seems  to  lie 
a  significant  admission,  even  if  Lessing  himself  has  not  recognised  it 
as  such. 

2  He  allows  himself  to  substitute  i-KiaKoirc^  for  evayyeXicf) ;  rois 
irpea-^vrepoLS  iKK^rjcrias  ws  aTroarSkoLS  for  rois  aTro(TT6\ois  us  Trpetr^SuTcptCf) 
T^s  iKKKriaias  ',  and  robs  ZiaKovovs  aya-KOO  ws  irpocprjTas  for  tovs 
npocp-hras  ayaivuiJiiv  in  Ignat.  ad  JEphes.  5.  Lightfoot  here  remarks : 
' '  Lessmg  attempted  to  handle  Ignatian  criticism  here  and  burnt  his 
fingers ;  his  emendation  is  an  exhibition  of  reckless  audacity,  all  the 
more  instructive  as  coming  from  a  great  man." 

2  Lessing  himself  often  misses  Walch's  meaning  and  mistakes  the 
point  of  view  under  which  Walch  has  adduced  this  or  that  quotation, 
in  that  he  follows  only  his  own  point  of  view.     The  tone  of  the  polemic 


INTRODUCTION  25 

On  this  point  VValch  is  not  only  not  refuted,  but  not 
even  an  attempt  is  made  to  refute  him. 

But  Walch,  in  his  collection  of  material,  is  quite 
uncritical,  and  above  all  devoid  of  historical  sense. 
The  meagreness  of  the  historical  imagination  which 
guided  him  in  his  labours  is  painfully  obvious  in  this 
no  less  than  in  his  other  works,  and  cannot  be  counter- 
balanced by  that  wonderful  industry  which  Spittler 
applauds.^  Besides,  his  distinction  of  historical  periods 
is  only  superficial ;  in  fact,  the  reader  cannot  learn 
from  his  treatise  that  Augustine  and  Jerome  wrote 
under  historical  conditions  different  from  those  of 
Clement  of  Rome  and  Justin  Martyr. 

The  question  of  the  relation  between  Creed  and 
Scripture  has  often  been  raised  and  thoroughly  treated 
since  the  time  of  Lessing  and  Walch  ;  but  the  question 
of  the  private  use  of  Holy  Scripture — subordinate,  of 
course,  when  compared  with  the  great  central  problem — 

remains  almost  always  worthy,  except  where  Lessing  sees  himself  forced 
to  confine  his  thesis  to  the  first  three  centuries  (vide  supra,  p.  21,  note  2), 
and  on  his  retreat  remarks  that  Walch  must  have  known  that  when 
he  spoke  of  the  first  four  he  meant  only  the  first  three  centuries,  but 
that  then  Walch's  reply  would  have  been  reduced  to  a  third  of  its  size. 
Moreover,  some  bad  mistakes  in  translation  on  the  part  of  Walch  are 
courteously  corrected.  Lessing  announces  that  he  can  prove  that  all 
the  women  Bible  readers  mentioned  in  the  Fathers  Averc  "probably 
deaconesses  "  (S.  212).  Unfortunately,  he  does  not  present  this  proof. 
It  certainly  could  not  have  brouglit  him  any  credit. 

^  Indeed,  no  work  teaches  so  clearly  as  this  of  Walch,  with  its 
meagreness  of  thought,  that  the  last  hour  had  struck  for  theology 
and  historical  investigation  of  this  kind.  But  it  also  teaches  us 
that  a  wonderful  fund  of  historical  erudition  was  carried  with  him 
to  the  grave. 


26    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

has  remained  untouched  during  the  130  years  that  have 
passed.  Walch  saw  what  was  right,  but  with  all  his 
learning  he  has  given  an  unsatisfactory  statement  of  the 
problem,  and  a  demonstration  that  is  unsatisfactory 
because  it  is  burdened  with  so  much  that  is  doubtful. 
We  are  accordingly  justified  in  taking  up  the  question 
afresh  and  submitting  it  to  a  thorough  examination  in 
order  to  bring  the  abortive  controversy  between  Lessing 
and  Walch  to  its  conclusion.  And  indeed  it  is  with 
joy  that  one  rushes  to  the  assistance  of  a  small  man 
where  he  is  in  the  right ;  it  is  still  the  great  man  who 
carries  off  the  palm  of  victory  in  the  main  battle.^ 

^  I  may  be  allowed  a  further  note  as  to  Walch's  attitude  as  a 
theologian.  While  I  was  engaged  in  this  treatise  the  Fuldaer 
Geschichtsbldtter,  10.  Jahrgang,  1911,  came  into  my  hands.  In  them 
S.  1  ff. ,  17  ff. ,  184  ff. )  Professor  Richter,  the  editor,  has  published  articles 
entitled :  "  Ein  Fuldaer  Plan  zur  Wiedervereinigung  der  christlichen 
Konfessionen  in  Deutschland."  On  10th  June  1780,  Pius  VI.,  in  a 
brief  addressed  to  the  Prince  Bishop  Henry  VIII.  of  Fulda,  bearing 
the  title  "Fuldaer  Plan"  or  "Fuldaer  Projekt,"  condemned  a  plan 
for  the  reunion  of  Christendom  in  Germany  that  had  been  the  subject 
of  careful  thought  and  discussion  in  the  Churches.  Richter  gives  a 
detailed  account  of  the  project,  according  to  the  records  of  Fulda  and 
other  material,  and  then  conclusively  shows  that,  though  the  plan 
found  support  among  the  Benedictines  of  Fulda,  it  did  not  originate 
in  Fulda  or  indeed  among  Catholics,  but  in  Protestant  circles.  The 
originator  was  Professor  Piderit  of  Kassel  (born  1720),  an  opponent  of 
rationalistic  Biblical  criticism,  which,  according  to  his  conviction, 
' '  overthrew  those  doctrines  upon  which  every  rightly  disposed 
Christian  had  hitherto  based  his  salvation."  Piderit  was  deeply 
moved  by  the  pitiful  condition  of  the  Protestant  Churches  in  con- 
sequence of  the  unrestrained  innovations  of  the  critics,  and  in  this 
mood  set  himself  to  work  for  the  reunion  of  the  Christian  sects  in 
the  German  empire.  After  consultation  with  the  Benedictines  of 
Fulda,  who  were  untouched  by  the  new  theories,  and  who  of  course 


INTRODUCTION  27 

III 

But  there  is  another  reason  for  devoting  special 
attention  to  the  question  of  the  private  use  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  in  the  Early  Church.  The  mystery-religions 
and  other  sacerdotal  cults,  in  so  far  as  they  possess 
sacred  writings,  treat  these  as  arcana,  and  either  deny 

upheld  the  doctrines  of  the  Divinity  of  Christ  and  of  the  Inspiration 
of  Holy  Scripture  in  their  integrity,  he  constructed  in  1779  his  plan 
of  reunion,  and  in  1781  published  it  anonymously.  Orthodox 
Protestantism  was  to  be  saved  by  reunion  with  Catholicism  !  Piderit 
naturally  sought  to  '\^•in  over  confidentially  other  Protestant  theologians 
to  his  plan.  Bellisomi,  the  Papal  Nuncio  at  Cologne,  in  a  notice  dated 
27th  April  1780,  mentions  that  Walch  of  Gottingen,  Leitz  of  Marburg, 
and  three  others  had  been  won  over  (Richter,  S.  187).  Actually 
Walch  !  and  that  in  1779,  the  very  year  of  the  appearance  of  his 
Critical  Investigation,  which  we  have  been  discussing.  In  the 
preface  of  this  treatise  (S.  6)  Walch  gives  expression  to  the  same 
anxiety  in  the  presence  of  the  flood  of  rationalistic  opinions  which 
had  moved  Piderit:  "May  the  Lord,  who  has  given  us  His  Word, 
preserve  and  guard  it  against  all  attempts  to  wrest  it  from  the  hands 
of  the  faithful  or  to  make  it  contemptible  in  their  eyes. "  But  hitherto, 
so  far  as  I  know,  there  has  been  no  suspicion  that  Walch  did  not 
trust  solely  to  the  power  of  the  Word  itself,  but  also  looked  round 
for  assistance  from  Catholicism.  What  an  extraordinary  position  for 
Protestantism !  On  the  one  hand  Lessing  deals  Protestantism  a 
fearful  blow  in  that  he  plays  off  the  regula  fidei  against  the  Scriptures, 
and  so  approaches  a  fundamental  doctrine  of  Catholicism,  while 
Walch  secretly  allies  himself  with  a  circle  which  would  save  orthodox 
Protestantism  by  reunion  with  Catholicism  !  Nicolai,  with  his  sus- 
picions of  Jesuitism,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  so  mistaken  after  all. 
But  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  situation  was  not  really  so  dangerous  ; 
for,  closely  regarded,  Lessing's  thesis  was  far  more  dangerous  to 
Catholicism  than  to  Protestantism,  and  schemes  for  reunion  were 
then  (1780),  as  to-day,  merely  Utopian,  as  was  proved  by  the  attitude 
of  the  Pope.  The  outcome  of  the  scheme  may  be  read  in  Richter's 
articles.  It  is  not,  however,  pleasant  to  know  that  a  man  like  Walch 
was  secretly  mixed  up  with  it. 


28    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

them  altogether  to  the  laity  or  only  permit  their  use 
after  a  more  or  less  lengthy  period  of  preparation,  and 
a  succession  of  degrees  of  discipleship  which  has  complete 
initiation  as  its  aim  and  object.  This  principle  is  so 
deeply  engrained  in  the  nature  of  mystery  and  sacer- 
dotal religions  that  it  may  be  regarded  as  part  of  their 
essence.  Now,  it  is  certain  that  the  Bible  has  never 
been  treated  in  this  way  in  the  Catholic  Churches ;  but 
seeing  that  at  a  comparatively  early  date  these  Churches 
acquired  also  characteristics  belonging  to  mystery  and 
sacerdotal  religions,  the  question  arises  whether  their 
use  of  the  Bible  was  thereby  affected,  and  if  so,  to  what 
extent ;  nor  can  there  be  any  doubt  that  the  question 
is  one  of  the  first  importance.  If  the  use  of  the  Bible 
in  the  Early  Church  was  in  no  degree  affected  by  this 
transformation,  we  are  faced  by  an  extraordinary  fact, 
which  may  well  incite  us  to  inquire  whether  the  ancient 
Catholic  Church,  in  spite  of  its  adoption  of  many 
characteristics  of  mystery  and  sacerdotal  religions,  is 
to  be  really  regarded  as  a  mystery- sect  like  other 
such  sects.  Any  such  thorough  investigation  of  the 
distinctive  attitude  of  the  Christian  religion  must 
inevitably  start  with  Judaism.  We  at  once  recognise 
that  the  case  of  the  Law,  and  of  the  other  books  which 
were  afterwards  gathered  into  the  Old  Testament  as  the 
completion  of  the  Law,  is  altogether  different  from  that 
of  the  sacred  books  of  mystery-religions.  The  Law  was 
both  regula  fidei  and  regula  disciplinae — the  latter,  indeed, 
in  yet  higher  degree  than  the  former — and  it  was  the 


INTRODUCTION  29 

immediate  rule  of  life  for  each  indivklual  Jew.  It 
was  therefore  necessary  that  each  individual  should 
have  the  closest  possible  acquaintance  with  the  Law. 
Thus  the  sacred  volume,  though  it  belonged  origin- 
ally to  the  Temple,  soon  belonged  just  as  much  to 
the  school,  to  the  family,  to  the  study,  even  though 
private  reading  was  not  enjoined  as  a  duty.  We 
indeed  know  that  the  Law  and  —  though  not  so 
frequently — the  other  sacred  writings,  through  which 
a  man  became  "  taught  of  God,"  were  to  be  found 
in  Jewish  homes.  Of  this  fact  the  strange  rule  taught 
by  the  Pharisees  and  scorned  by  the  Sadducees,  that 
to  touch  the  Holy  Scriptures  defiled  the  hands,^  is 
in  itself  a  proof;  and  the  same  conclusion  may  be 
drawn  from  the  other  ordinance  that  a  book  of  the 
Law  might  be  bought  with  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of 
other  sacred  wTitings,  but  not  other  sacred  writings 
with  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  a  book  of  the  Law.^ 
Positive  testimony  to  the  private  use  of  Holy  Scripture 
in  the  Greek  and  early  Roman  period  is  not,  it  is  true, 
great  in  amount,  but  it  is  quite  sufficient.  The  testi- 
mony of  1  Mace.  i.  56  fF.  is  quite  clear  and  specially 
valuable.  Here  we  learn  that  Antiochus  issued  a 
decree  that  every  month  search  should  be  made,  and 
that  everyone  in  whose  possession  the  book  of  the  Law 

*  This  rule  was  naturally  intended  to  guard  the  books  from 
profane  and  careless  usage.  The  books  of  Homer  did  not  defile  the 
hands;  vide  Schurer,  Oesch.  d.  jiid.  Volkes,  ii.^  S.  309  f.,  311,384  f., 
413. 

2  Megillaiii.  1  ;  Schurer,  ii.^  S.  311. 


30    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

was  found  should  be  punished  with  death.^  This 
decree  presupposes  a  considerable  circulation  of  the 
Law  in  private  houses.  As  for  the  other  sacred 
writings,  it  is  sufficient  to  remember  the  Aethiopian 
eunuch  who,  returning  from  the  feast  at  Jerusalem, 
read  in  his  chariot  the  prophet  Isaiah. ^  We  have 
evidence  to  show  that  in  imparting  the  knowledge 
of  the  Holy  Scripture  the  Jews  observed  certain 
rules  of  a  disciplinary  character.  Thus  Gregory  of 
Nazianzus  {Ot-at.,  ii.  48,  T.  i.  p.  35)  mentions 
with  approval  the  report  of  Jewish  scholars  that 
it  was  a  rule  with  the  Hebrews  of  earlier  days 
not  to  allow  every  man,  regardless  of  age,  to  read 
every  book  of  Holy  Scripture,  but  to  place  in  the 
hands  of  the  young  only  those  portions  of  Scripture 
whose  literal  sense  commanded  universal  approval 
(the  sentiment  is  somewhat  Alexandrine  in  expres- 
sion), and  only  after  they  had  attained  to  the  age  of 
twenty-five  years  to  permit  them  to  read  the  whole 
Old  Testament.  Compare  with  this  what  Origen  tells 
us  of  the  scruples    of  Jewish  teachers   concerning  the 

^  Afterwards  the  Roman  power,  in  spite  of  its  antipathy  to  books  of 
magic,  protected  the  Holy  Scriptures  (did  it  regard  them  as  law  books  ?). 
A  Roman  soldier  was  punished  with  death  because  he  had  torn  a  book 
of  the  Law.     Josephus,  Antiq.,  xx.  5,  4. 

2  Acts  viii.  28.  The  importance  of  this  anecdote  for  our  purpose 
does  not  depend  upon  its  historical  accuracy,  though  this  in  essentials 
need  not  be  called  into  question.  In  the  Mishna  (Jebamoth  xvi.  7)  we 
hear  of  a  Levite  who  died  in  an  inn.  His  luggage  consisted  of  a  knap- 
sack and  a  book  of  the  Law. 


INTRODUCTION  31 

reading  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  by  the  young.^  These 
disciplinary  regulations  have,  however,  simply  nothing 
to  do  with  the  question  of  the  absolute  publicity  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  In  Judaism  the  Bible  was  the  book 
for  every  Jew ;  he  heard  it  in  the  synagogue,  but  he 
was  also  expected  to  read  it  at  home.  This  attitude  of 
Judaism  predetermined  the  history  of  the  Bible  in  the 
Church. — What  part  had  the  laity  of  the  Early  Church 
in  the  Bible? — this  is  the  subject  of  the  following 
investigation.  Other  questions,  such  as  the  relation 
of  Creed  to  Scripture,  or  the  origin  of  the  New 
Testament,  will  as  far  as  possible  be  left  on  one  side. 
I  confine  myself,  like  Walch,  to  the  first  four  centuries 
(up  to  about  430  a.d.) — after  that  time  there  is  no 
trace  of  anything  really  vital  and  original :  I  distinguish, 
however,  three  periods,  bounded  by  the  names  of  Irenaeus 
and  Eusebius.  I  owe  something  to  Walch's  collection 
of  material,  but  most  of  it  was  known  to  me  years  ago. 
I  have  for  a  long  period  had  my  attention  fixed  upon 
this  question,  as  is  shown  by  my  other  works,  and 
especially  by  my  Missionsgeschichte.'^ 

^  Qxigenes,  Proleg.  in  Cantic.  Cant.  (T.  xiv.  p.  289,  Lomm.) :  ''Aiunt 
enim,  observari  etiam  apud  Hebraeos,  quod,  nisi  quis  ad  aetatem 
perfectam  maturamque  pervenerit,  libellum  hunc  ne  quidein  in  nianibus 
tenere  permittatur. "  Compare  also  what  follows.  We  give  the  whole 
passage  further  on. 

'^  Vide  Missionsgeschichte,  2.  Aufl.,  i.  S.  239,  317,  409,  ii.  S.  358,  etc. 


CHAPTER   I 

THE    TIME    BEFORE    IRENAEUS 

Among  the  Jewish  Christians  the  private  use  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  simply  continued ;  for  the  fact  that 
they  had  become  believers  in  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus 
had  absolutely  no  other  effect  than  to  increase  this  use, 
in  so  far  as  it  was  now  necessary  to  study  not  only  the 
Law  but  also  the  Prophets  and  the  Kethubim,  seeing 
that  these  afforded  prophetic  proofs  of  the  Messiahship 
of  Jesus,  and  in  so  far  as  the  religious  independence  of 
the  individual  Christian  was  still  greater  than  that  of 
the  ordinary  Jew  (Acts  ii.  17  ff.)- 

This  use  simply  and  easily  passed  over  from  the 
Jewish  to  the  Gentile  Christians,  for  the  Holy  Scriptures 
in  the  Greek  translation  were  fully  accessible  to,  and  were 
read  by,  the  Jews  of  the  Dispersion.  Moreover,  we  know 
that  among  the  Gentile  Christians  the  order  of  public 
worship  and  private  and  family  discipline  in  matters 
of  religion  and  morality,  took  form  in  accordance  with 
the  Jewish  (Jewish  Christian)  models. 

But  though  it  is  certain  that  the  private  use  of  the 

Holy  Scriptures  among  the  Gentile  Christians  was  limited 

32 


THE  TIME  BEFORE  IRENAEUS  33 

by  no  consideration  of  principle,  rather  that  it  was 
suggested  by  inherited  custom  and  common  sense,  still 
it  is  also  certain  that  at  first  and  for  a  considerable 
period  of  time  this  use  was  somewhat  infrequent,  simply 
because  of  the  lack  of  copies.  This  explains  why 
mention  is  never  made  of  the  private  use  in  the  epistles 
of  the  New  Testament.  Timothy  is  exhorted  to 
"  public  reading  "^ ;  ^  it  was  from  this  public  reading 
that  the  community  gained  practically  all  its  knowledge 
of  the  Bible.  It  is  true  that  Timothy  himself  "  knew 
from  childhood  the  Holy  Scriptures,"^  and  had  thus 
heard  them  in  his  own  home ;  but  he  had  a  pious 
Jewish  mother.  That  St  Paul  did  not  in  general  count 
upon  private  reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  his 
communities  follows  conclusively  from  Col.  iii.  16 
(Eph.  V.  19),  where  indeed  mention  is  made  of  psalms 
and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  wherewith  the  individual 
members  should  edify  themselves  and  one  another,  but 
nothing  is  said  about  the  reading  of  Holy  Scripture. 
Nor  can  we,  unfortunately,  draw  from  the  manner 
in  which  the  Apostle  applies  and  makes  use  of  the 
Old  Testament  in  his  epistles  any  certain  conclusions 
as  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Bible  in  the  communities ; 
still  less  as  to  the  way  in  which  that  knowledge 
had  been  gained.  It  is  quite  obvious  that  St  Paul 
makes  distinctions — we  need  only  compare  the  first 
and    second   epistles    to    the    Thessalonians — but    we 

^    1  Tim.  iv.  13  :   irpSa^x^  "^V  avayyuxrd,  ttj  TrapaK\i](Tii,  rrj  diSaaKaXia. 
^  2  Tim.  iii.  15:  airh  Ppf<povs  lepii  ypd/xixaTa  olSas. 

3 


34    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

learn  thence  nothing  that  can  help  us  in  answering 
our  question. 

The  Gentile  Christian  St  Luke  shows  in  his  works 
at  all  events  a  very  respectable  knowledge  of  the  Bible, 
which  cannot  only  have  been  acquired  from  what  he 
had  heard  in  public  worship,  but  must  have  been  based 
upon  private  study ;  indeed,  he  imitates  the  style  of 
the  Septuagint  with  considerable  skill.  But  in  my 
opinion  he  was  probably  in  close  touch  with  Judaism, 
or  at  least  with  the  disciples  of  the  Baptist  before  he 
became  a  Christian,  though  we  cannot  conclusively 
prove  this.  Again,  the  question  of  the  existence  and 
extent  of  private  Bible  reading  ought  not  at  any  rate 
to  be  made  to  depend  upon  the  case  of  one  who  was 
a  literary  man  ;  the  Bible  knowledge  of  a  man  who 
took  up  the  pen  to  write  books  would  naturally  be  far 
in  advance  of  that  of  the  great  majority  of  his  brethren, 
and  such  a  case  should  therefore  as  a  rule  be  excluded 
from  our  investigation. 

Before  we  proceed  further,  it  will  be  in  place  to 
sketch  for  ourselves  cursorily  the  outward  form  in 
which  the  Holy  Scriptures  were  current  at  this  period. 
In  the  synagogues  they  existed  as  rolls  preserved  in 
cloth  coverings  and  in  cases,  and  kept  in  an  ark  or 
cupboard.^  We  must  imagine  them  kept  in  a  similar 
way  in  private  houses.  Here  the  chief  point  to  be 
remembered  is  that  the  Scriptures  were  not  united  in 

^  Vide  Schiirer,  ii.^  S.  449  f.  Representations  on  tombstones  have 
come  down  to  us. 


THE  TIME  BEFORE  IRENAEUS  35 

one  codex  or  volume,  but  that  they  consisted  of  several 
rolls  (papyrus  or  parchment)  separate  from  one  another. 
It  is  true  that  at  a  very  early  period  papyrus  books 
also  make  their  appearance,  but  they  were  exceptional  ; 
the  roll  predominated.  Although  the  separate  roll 
had  its  advantage  in  that  it  could  be  more  easily 
purchased,  the  fact  that  the  Scriptures  did  not  exist  in 
one  volume  had  necessarily  a  detrimental  influence  in 
the  history  of  the  Canon.  Zahn  has  given  a  full  and 
illuminating  discussion  of  this  point  in  his  History  of 
the  Canon  of  the  New  Testament}  As  a  rule,  each 
considerable  writing  occupied  a  roll  by  itself — it  can  be 
proved  from  the  textual  history  of  the  Gospels  that 
they  were  often  written  and  copied  on  separate  rolls ; 
moreover,  the  variation  in  the  order  of  books  has  this 
for  one  of  its  reasons  ^ — but  large  rolls  were  also  to  be 
found,  comprising  copies  of  several  books  of  con- 
siderable size.  And  even  when  the  parchment  volume 
began  to  take  the  place  of  rolls  (third  and  fourth 
centuries),  the  separate  books  written  upon  cheaper 
material  could  still  be  purchased.  Thus  for  a  com- 
paratively small  sum  ^  a  man  could  buy  separate  parts 
of  the  Bibliotheca  Divina.  It  is  true  that,  considering 
the    scarcity   of  money   among  the  lower  middle  class 

^  Bd.  i.  S.  60  ff.  The  student  should  read  the  whole  section  up  to 
page  84. 

2  Leviticus  comes  before  Numbers,  not  only  in  Melito's  list  and  in 
the  Stichometria  Moramsenia,  but  also  in  a  list  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
belonging  to  the  late  Middle  Ages  in  the  monastery  of  Stam. 

^   Vide  Birt,  Das  antike  Buchivesen,  1882. 


36    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

and  the  unsatisfactory  conditions  of  the  bookselling 
trade,  St  Augustine's  complaint :  "  Ubi  ipsos  codices 
quaerimus?  unde  aut  quando  comparamus  ?  a  quibus 
sumimus""?^  would  have  been  heard  in  many  quarters 
as  frequently  in  the  second  as  in  the  fourth  century. 
Still,  Augustine  himself  soon  acquired  a  copy  of 
the  Pauline  Epistles,^  so  that  it  could  not  have  been 
so  very  difficult  two  or  three  centuries  earlier  for  even 
poor  men  to  obtain  possession  of  books  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  if  they  made  serious  efforts  to  purchase 
them.^ 

This  may  also  be  proved — in  spite  of  the  almost  com- 
plete absence  of  direct  evidence  for  the  period  before 
Irenaeus — from  the  fact  that  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old 
Testament,  as  well  as  the  Gospels  and  the  Epistles  of  St 
Paul,  which  now  appear  side  by  side  with  them,  became 
in  high  degree  and  to  a  wide  extent  the  subject  of  study 
and  controversy  in  the  Christian  communities.  The 
writings  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  but  above  all  the 
great  Gnostic  movement,  make  it  quite  clear  that  these 
Scriptures  were  known  to  a  comparatively  large  number 
of  Christians,  and  that  this  knowledge  could  not  have 
been  derived  solely  from  what  they  heard  in  public 
worship,  but  that  the  writings  must  have  been  also  in 
their  own  hands.     One  need  only  read  a  letter  like  that 

1  Confess.,  vi.  11,  18. 

2  Ibid.,  viii.  12,  29. 

3  It  was  not  everyoue  who  could  even  make  a  copy  ;  this  would 
demand  greater  skill  than  would  be  gained  from  a  merely  elementary 
education. 


THE  TIME  BEFORE  IRENAEUS  37 

of  Ptolemy  to  Flora,  or  reflect  upon  the  great  Marcionite 
movement,  in  order  to  be  forced  to  conclude  that  the 
Old  Testament,  the  Gospels,  and  the  Epistles  of  St  Paul 
had  a  very  wide  circulation  and  were  studied  by  multi- 
tudes of  Christians.  There  was  indeed  no  lack  of  works 
whicli  presented  all  that  was  most  important  in  a 
shorter  form — such  as  The  Teaching  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles^  the  Antitheses  of  Marcion  for  the  Mar- 
cionite Church,  and  collections  of  sayings  from  the 
Old  Testament  in  the  interest  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
uniqueness  and  unity  of  God,  of  ethics,  and  of  the  doctrine 
of  future  judgment,^  etc. ; — still,  it  must  have  been  the 
object  of  all  Christian  teachers  to  conduct  and  lead  as 
many  as  possible  of  the  members  of  the  communities  to 
the  reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  themselves.  The 
obscurity  of  Holy  Scripture  is  almost  never  mentioned," 
and  there  is  absolutely  no  evidence  that  during  tliis 
period  a  teacher  ever  for  this  reason  dissuaded  his 
pupils  from  reading  Holy  Scripture.  Rather  we  may 
assume,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  practice  of  the  Jewish 
converts  of  Beroea,  commended  by  St  Luke  (Acts  xvii. 
11:"  They  daily  searched  the  Scriptures  whether  these 
things  were  so"),  was  both  enjoined  by  the  missionaries 
themselves  and  was  carried  out  in  the  communities. 
Still,  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  in  "  The  Way  of  liife ''  (in 
the  Didache)  and  in  the  practical  concluding  portion  of 

^  Here  also  Judai-ni  liad  in  part  led  the  way. 

-  The  author  of  2  Peter,  in  what  he  says  of  St  Paul  (iii.  15  f.),  forms 
an  exception. 


38    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

the  Epistle  of  Barnabas  no  express  mention  is  made  of 
private  Bible  reading.  Those  who  could  read  and  study 
were  indeed  a  small  minority,  and  yet  Ptolemy,  for 
example,  presupposes  in  his  pupil  Flora  a  by  no  means 
contemptible  acquaintance  with  the  books  of  Moses  and 
the  Gospels,  although  she  had  not  yet  received  the 
(Gnostic)  Apostolic  Tradition}  It  is  a  layman  who 
turns  to  the  famous  bishop,  Melito  of  Sardis,  with  the 
petition  that  he  would  "  make  for  him  a  collection 
of  extracts  from  the  Law  and  the  Prophets  referring 
to  our  Saviour,  and  to  our  Faith  in  general,"'  and 
that  he  would  besides  give  him  authentic  information 
concerning:  the  number  and  the  order  of  the  books  of 
the  Old  Testament.^  This  layman,  whose  religious 
zeal  is  specially  commended,  would  scarcely  have  asked 
these  questions  if  he  had  not  already  occupied  him- 
self in  private  with  the  Holy  Scriptures.  It  is  true 
that  the  layman  Hermas,  though  he  shows  himself 
to  be  a  prophet  and  a  prolific  writer,  evidently  has 
very  little  or  no  knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  such  laymen  were  naturally  always  in  the  majority  ; 
still,  in  this  respect  he  stands  alone  among  Christian 
authors.  We  may,  moreover,  learn  from  his  book 
how  a  new  revelation  was  made  public  among  the 
Christian  communities.  Hermas  had  received  such  a 
revelation,  which  he  published  in  a  book  that  was 
addressed  to  all  the  elect.  He  himself  is  directed  to 
give  it — that  is,  to  read  it — to  the  presbyters  of  his 
1  Epiph.,  H.,  31,  7.  ^  Euseb.,  Hist.  Ecd.,  iv.  26,  12. 


THE  TIME  BEFORE  IRENAEUS  39 

(i.e.  the  Roman)  Church,  in  order  that  these  may  give  it 
wider  circulation  in  the  community.  Moreover,  he  is 
to  make  two  copies.  One  is  intended  for  the  presbyter 
who  conducted  foreign  correspondence ;  he  is  to  impart 
it  to  the  "  foreign  cities,''  naturally  by  sending  copies 
to  the  sister  communities.  The  other  is  to  be  kept  by 
a  certain  Grapte,  that  she  may  from  it  exhort  the 
widows  and  orphans.  This  can  only  imply  house-to- 
house  visitation  on  the  part  of  Grapte,  who  is  to  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  "  widows "  of  the  community. 
These  directions  are  so  instructive  because  they  show 
that  every  divine  revelation  was  made  accessible  to  every 
individual  Christian,  that  it  was  even  brought  into 
private  houses  and  made  known  to  the  children.  We 
could  not  wish  for  a  stronger  proof  of  the  complete 
publicity  of  the  Word  of  God. 

Clement  of  Rome  (chap,  liii.)  testifies  of  the  Corinthian 
Christians :  "  Ye  know  the  Holy  Scriptures,  yea,  your 
knowledge  is  laudable,  and  ye  have  deep  insight  into 
the  oracles  of  God.''  Though  we  may  not  take  these 
words  quite  literally,  still  they  show  that  good  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Holy  Scriptures,  such  as  could  only  be 
gained  by  personal  study,  belonged  to  the  ideal  of  a 
Christian  community.  All  Christians  ought  to  be 
"  taught  of  God,"  such  as  "  search  out  what  the  Lord 
requires  of  us."  ^  This  ideal  could  only  be  reached  if 
they  themselves,  in  so  far  as  it  was  possible,  made  them- 
selves acquainted  with  the  divine  Scriptures.  The 
1  Barn.  xxi.  ti. 


40    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

tendency  to  religious  independence  which  belonged  to 
the  essence  of  Christianity,  necessarily  disposed  the 
individual  to  personal  study  of  the  Scriptures,  and  even 
the  gift  of  "  the  Spirit "  could  not  dispense  him  from 
this  obligation — indeed,  he  was  thereby  impelled  the 
more  earnestly  to  fulfil  it ;  for  it  was  in  the  ancient 
prophecies  that  the  New  Prophecy  found  its  source  and 
its  vitality. 

Polycarp  coincides  with  Clement  when  he  writes  to 
the  Philippian  Church  (chap,  xii.) :  "  I  trust  that  ye  are 
well  exercised  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  that  nothing 
is  (there)  hidden  from  you."  This  "exercise''  also 
points  to  personal  study.  The  famous  passage  in  the 
Epistle  of  Ignatius  to  the  Philadelphians  (chap,  viii.) : 
"  I  have  heard  some  say :  '  If  I  do  not  find  it  in  the 
Old  Testament  {tol^  apxatot^),  I  do  not  believe  it  in 
the  Gospel'"  —  presupposes  laymen  who  knew  the 
Scriptures.  Also  the  author  of  the  second  Clementine 
Epistle  assumes  his  readers'  good  acquaintance  with 
the  Scriptures  when  he  writes  (chap,  xiv.) :  "I  believe 
that  ye  know  very  well  that  the  living  Church  is  the 
body  of  Christ,  and  that  'the  books'  (of  the  Old 
Testament)  and  the  Apostles  regard  the  Church  not  as 
a  temporal  and  earthly  manifestation,  but  as  one  that 
has  come  from  above." 

The  publicity,  the  wide  circulation,  and  the  easy 
accessibility  of  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament^ 

^  At  first  primitive  Cliristianity  was  concerned  exclusively  with  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament.     Even  the  apologists,  when  speaking 


THE  TIME  BEFORE  IRENAEUS  41 

are  presupposed  in  the  writir-gs  of  all  the  apologists 
of  the  second  century.  Their  demonstrations,  their 
exhortations  to  read  the  Scriptures,  would  be  incom- 
prehensible if  the  use  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  among  the 
Christians  had  been  confined  to  public  worship.  Let  us 
consider  the    most  important  and  pertinent  passages.^ 

of  Scriptures,  mean  only  these.  What  Wrede  says  of  Clement  ( Unters. 
zum  crstm  Clemcnshrief,  1891,  S.  75  f.)  is  true  of  all  Christians  of 
primitive  times  belonging  to  the  Catholic  Church:  "Clement's 
treatment  of  Scripture  depends  entirely  upon  the  axiom,  accepted  by 
all  Christians,  that  the  Old  Testament  is  the  unique  sacred  book, 
given  by  God  to  Christians  and  properly  to  Christians  alone,  whose 
words  could  claim  absolute  authority  and  formed  the  first  and  the 
most  important  foundation  of  all  Christian  irapaboa-is.  From  a 
historical  point  of  view  it  would  be  altogether  unsatisfactory  to  say 
that  the  Jewish  Old  Testament — as  a  whole  or  in  part — continued  in 
force  for  the  Christians  as  if  its  recognition  implied  some  kind  of 
previous  reflection,  and  as  if  the  possession  of  this  heavenly  and 
infallible  book  were  not  in  the  eyes  of  the  Christians  one  of  the  most 
striking  commendations  of  the  new  religion.  It  cannot  be  stated 
too  emphatically  that  at  that  time  there  was  not  the  slightest  suspicion 
that  in  the  future  a  second  sacred  volume  would  come  into  being  with 
authority  equal  to,  indeed  greater  than,  the  first."  We  cannot  here 
describe  how  first  separate  Christian  books,  above  all  the  Gospels  and 
Apocalypses,  then  a  collection  of  books,  and  at  last  a  second  Bible, 
found  a  place  side  by  side  with  the  first,  and  like  it  was  also  taken 
into  private  use  ;  if  we  did,  this  "excursus"  would  necessarily  exceed 
in  length  our  whole  treatise.  It  must  suffice  to  point  out  that  the 
process  which  in  the  end  so  extraordinarily  increased  the  volume  of 
the  ancient  Scriptures  by  the  addition  of  a  second  collection,  though  it 
had  its  beginnings  in  the  first  half  of  the  second  century,  for  the  most 
part  belonged  to  the  second  half  of  that  century.  It  can  be  proved 
from  testimony  of  the  fourth  century  that  certain  writings  of  the  Old 
Testament  always  stood  in  the  foreground  for  private  edification.  The 
Kethubim,  especially  the  Psalms,  never  resigned  the  first  place  in  the 
private  house  to  any  other  books. 

^  Appeal   cannot   be   made   to   the   most  ancient   of  the  authentic 
Latin  Acts  of  the  Martyrs,  namely,  the  Acts  of  the  Martyrs  of  Scili 


42    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Aristides,  the  earliest  of  the  apologists,  exhorts  his 
heathen  readers  after  reading  his  own  work  to  take 
into  their  hands  and  to  read  the  Holy  Scriptures 
themselves.^  This  appeal  to  the  Holy  Scriptures 
runs  through  all  the  apologies  from  the  earliest  to 
the  latest,^  and  shows  that  their  authors  were  united  in 
the  belief  that  the  regular  way  to  become  a  convinced 
Christian  was  to  read  the  Holy  Scriptures.^     In  this  way 

in  Africa  (a.d.  181).  Here  the  Christian  Speratus,  when  asked 
by  the  Proconsul,  "Quae  sunt  res  in  capsa  vestra?"  replies,  "Libri 
et  epistulae  Pauli  viri  iusti."  (The  ancient  Greek  version  reads  : 
Tlo7ai  Trpay/J-arelai  (eV)  to7s  vpL^repois  OTrd/cetVTai  (TKiVicriv  ;  6  ayios 
Innparos  elirev.  at  Kud''  r]jxas  /8ij8Aoi  Kal  at  irphs  iirl  tovtois  iiriaroXal 
IlavAov  Tov  oaiov  au5p6s).  Speratus  seems  to  have  been  the  leader  of 
the  little  band,  and  the  "capsa"  was  not  his  own  private  property 
(note  the  word  "vestra"),  but  belonged  to  the  community.  We 
cannot,  therefore,  here  draw  any  conclusion  as  to  the  private  use  of 
Holy  Scripture. 

^  Apol.,  xvi. 

2  Pseudo- Justin,  Or  at.  ad  Graec,  5  ;  so  also  the  author  of  the  Cohort, 
ad  Grace,  35.  36.  38. 

^  Tatian  {Or at.,  chap.  29)  gives  the  best  summary  of  what  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  had  to  say  to  a  Greek,  and  what 
impression  they  made  upon  him :  livvk^t]  ypa4>a7s  tktiv  ivrux^'iv 
fiapfiapiKois,  TTpeafivTcpais  fiev  ws  irphs  to.  'EWrivwy  S6yij.aTa,  O^or^pais 
5e  ws  irphs  rr)v  eKiiuwv  irXav-qv'  Kai  /xoi  ireiadrivai  ravrais  avvf^r}  did  re 
Twu  Ae|e«v  rh  6.Tv<pov  /cat  tS)V  iiir6vT0i}v  rh  aviiriTiiSevrov  koI  ttjs  tov 
iraurhs  7roi7j(r6«s  rh  ^vKaTd\r}irTov  Kal  twv  ixi\x6vraiv  irpoyvoxTTiKhv 
KaX  rwy  irapayyiX/xaTuv  rh  i^aiiriov  Kal  rwv  o\wv  rh  fiovapxtKhy. 
©iodiSdKTov  {vide  supra,  Barn.  xxi.  6 :  in  the  reading  of  the  Holy 
Scripture  a  man  has  God  Himself  for  teacher)  Se  fiov  yeuoficv-qs  ttis 
^vxvs  a-vvvKa  '6ri  ra  f^ev  KaTa5iK7]S  exet  rp6irov,  to.  5e  gxi  Xvei  rV  «" 
K6(Tij.cf  5ov\€iay  Kal  apxovTwv  /xeu  iroAAwv  Kal  /xvptwu  airo<nra  rvpavuwy, 
didua-i  Se  tj/xIv  ovx  (iirep  p-V  ixdfio/xev,  aW'  (iir^p  KafiSvT^s  uirh  t^s 
itxdvqs  ex^iv  iKwKvQ-nixev.  Compare  also  how  Theophilus  (ao?  ^w«o^., 
i.  14  ;  ii.  34)  exhorts  his  heathen  friend  to  read  the  Holy  Scriptures  : 
Ei  fiovKei,  Kal  av  euTvx^  (piAoTiixws  rats  irpo<pr]riKa7s  ypa<pa7s,   Kal  avrai 


THE  TIME  BEFORE  IRENAEUS  43 

Justin,^  Tatian,"  and  Theophilus^  expressly  say  that 
they  themselves  became  Christians.  Justin  mentions 
incidentally  that  this  reading  was  not  without  its 
dangers,  seeing  that  the  books  of  the  Prophets 
were  regarded  as  books  of  sorcery  and  magic  by 
the  authorities ;  ^  yet  "  we  not  only  read  them  with- 
out fear,  but  we   also  offer  them  to  you  for  study.'"*  ^ 


(Tf  Tpavojepov  d5riyf)(Xov(rLi/  k.t.\.  .  .  .  Th  Xoitrhv  etrToj  aoi  (pi\o(pp6va>5 
ipfvuav  TO.  Tov  deov,  Kcyu  5e  ra  5ia  tcDv  wpocpriTMU  (>r}d4vTa- 

1  Dial.,  7. 

'  Orat.,  29.  Philippus  Sidetes  professes  to  know  that  Athenagoras 
originally  intended  to  combat  Christianity,  but  that  the  reading  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures  turned  him  from  a  Saul  into  a  Paul  (Excerpta 
in  Cod.  Barocc.  142,  fol.  216). 

^  Ad  AiUoL,  i.  14:  Kol  yap  eyla  riiriffTovv  tovto  ecrecOot,  aWa  vvv 
KaTavo'i](Tas  avra  tncTTiVu),  oifia  Koi  itrirvxtiiv  Upous   ypa<pa'iS  twu  ayiuu 

1TpO(pr}TU)U, 

•*  We  may  not  conclude  from  the  words  of  Justin  (see  the  following 
note)  that  there  was  an  express  decree  of  the  Roman  Government 
against  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament.  Justin 
only  assumes,  and  indeed  with  justice,  that  the  laws  against  magic 
and  hooks  of  magic  could  also  be  directed  against  these  writings 
( ' '  Qui  de  salute  principis  vel  de  summa  reipublicae  mathematicos, 
ariolos,  aruspices,  vaticinatores  consulit,  cum  eo  qui  responderit 
capite  punitur  "  ;  and  ' '  Libros  magicae  artis  apud  so  neminem  habere 
licet  et  si  penes  quoscumque  reperti  sint,  lionis  ademtis  ambustisque 
his  publice  in  insulam  deportantur,  humiliores  capite  puniuntur." 
Paul.  Senteiit.,  v.,  tit.  21,  23).     Perhaps  cases  had  already  occurred, 

^  Justin,  Apol.,  i.  44:  Kar'  iv4py^iav  ruv  (pavKa}]/  Sai/xSvcDU  OduaTOs 
wpiadr]  Kara  rSov  tols  "Tardairov  ^  l^ifivWris  t)  twv  Trpo^rjrajj/  ^ifiXovs 
avayivwffKovTwv,  'oirws  Sid  tov  <p6^ov  dTroaTpf\pa}(Tiy  ivTvyxdvovTas  tovs 
dvdpciiTTOvs  tS)v  KaXup  yvo}(Tiv  \a^(7v,  avrols  5e  dov\ivoVTas  kotcxw'^**'* 
'6-mp  e/s  t4\os  ovk  "iax^iyo-^  irpd^ai.  dcpd^oos  fJi^v  yap  ov  fiouov 
ivrvyxdvojxiv  avrals,  dwd  Ka\  vjxiu  ws  dpaTe,  els  iTrl(rKe\\/iu  (p€po/j.tv. 
Again,  when  Tatian  tells  us  that  Christian  maidens  "  with  the  distaff" 
TO  KaTa  d(hv  \a\ov(rii'  eKcpajvnfxara  {Oral.,  33),  he  can  only  mean  words 
of  Scripture.     He  contrasts  them  with  Sappho — to  yvyaiov  ttopvik6v. 


44    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Justin  is  naive  enough  to  expect  the  emperors  themselves 
to  read  them.^  Athenagoras  goes  still  further;  he 
believes  that  he  may  assume  that  the  emperors  to  whom 
he  addresses  his  apology  already  know  the  Scriptures  of 
the  Old  Testament,  and  he  leaves  it  to  them,  on  the 
ground  of  this  knowledge  which  he  begs  them  to  refresh, 
to  institute  reforms  in  the  matter  of  the  process  against 
the  Christians.2  This  assumption  may  be  only  a  fapn 
de  parler^  but  Athenagoras  could  not  have  made  it  if  the 
Scriptures  had  not  had  a  wide  circulation.  Justin  does 
not  mention  whether  his  opponent  Crescens  the  Cynic 
had  read  the  teachings  of  Christ,^  but  he  allows  his 
other  opponent,  the  Jew  Trypho,  to  state  expressly  that 
he  had  made  it  his  business  himself  to  read  the  Gospel.* 
This  is  the  earliest  notice  which  we  have  of  a  Jew 
reading  the  Gospels.  Yet  the  whole  dialogue  with 
Trypho  (which  has  a  historical  foundation),  and  per- 
haps also  the  Fourth  Gospel,  presuppose  controversies 
between  Christians  and  Jews  which  were  based  upon 
a  written  Gospel  that  was  read  even  by  Jews.  The 
first  Greek  of  whom  we  know  that  he  was  thoroughly 
acquainted    with   the    Christian    Scriptures    is    Celsus, 

1  Apol.,\.  28. 

2  SuppL,  9  :  No^iX^  *«"'  "^M^s  (piXajuaOca-TaTOvs  Kal  iivL<rTr]fioi'eaT<iTovs 
ovTas,  ovK  avoTjTovs  yeyovevai  ovre  rwu  'Had'iov  Kal  'lepefilov  koI  twv 
XonrcHv  Trpocprjrwu.  .  .  .  KaraAeiirof  5e  u/xlv,  eV  avroiv  tS)V  fiifi\iQ)V 
yevofievois,  aKpi^ecTTepov  ras  €Kiiywv  i^erdcrai  irpo(pr]Telas,  Ottws  juero 
Tov  Trpo(Ti]Kovros  XoyKT/xov  rr/v  kuO'  T]fxas  inrfpeiau  airoffK^uacrrjaOe. 

3  Apol.,u.  3. 

*  Dial.,  10,  18:  'EttciSt;  apeyyws,  cD  Tpvcpwv,  us  avrhs  bjxoXoyhaas 
^(f>r]s,  TO  virh  tov  (TWTrjpos  riiJuv  StSax^eVro. 


THE  TIME  BEFORE  IRENAEUS  45 

who  wrote  during  the  reign  of  Marcus  Aurelius.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  prove  his  very  close  acquaintance 
with  the  Gospels  ;^  and  yet,  though  he  had  looked  into 
so  nianv  Christian  writings,  he  seems  not  to  have  known 
the  Epistles  of  St  Paul.  He  is,  however,  himself  con- 
vinced that  his  knowledge  of  Christianity  is  based  upon 
a  complete  investigation  of  the  original  documents  :  "  I 
know  all,'"  he  says.-  He  nowhere  gives  ground  for  the 
surmise  that  it  had  cost  him  any  trouble  to  obtain  the 
necessarv  books  ;  on  the  other  hand,  he  does  not  describe 
the  Christian  relisjion  as  a  relio;ion  of  a  "  book  "  or  of 
books.  The  enthusiastic  character  of  the  new  religion 
stood  for  him  in  the  foreground.  Moreover,  the 
Christian  religion  before  the  days  of  Calvin  was  never  a 
religion  of  a  book  in  the  same  sense  and  degree  as  Islam. 
It  is,  however,  very  noteworthy  that  already  Celsus  took 
offence  at  the  poor  form  and  the  inferior  style  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  such  as  were  fit  only  for  the  uneducated 
and  barbarians,  and  that  he  makes  invidious  comparisons 
with  the  writings  of  Plato.^  We  shall  see  that  this 
aspect  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  presented  difficulties  to 
the  Fathers,  seeing  that  educated  Christians  also  took 
offence  at  it. 

Finally,  we  may  with  all  due  caution  make  use  of  the 
following  consideration  : — It  cannot  be  proved  that  the 

^  The  doubts  of  Origen  are  scarcely  seriously  meant. 

'■^  Origen,  c.  Ccls.,  i.  12. 

^  Celsus  apud  Origen,  vi.  1  f.  Unfortunately  Origen  here  gives  only 
an  extract.  Concerning  Christian  conventicles  in  boudoirs  and  work- 
rooms, vide  Chap.  Ill,  p.  62  H. 


46    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  were  translated  into 
any  other  language  except  the  Greek  before  the 
Christian  era.  This  applies  even  to  Syriac.^  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  probable  that  the  Old  Testament 
was  first  translated  into  Latin  not  by  Jews  but  by 
Christians,^  and  that  these  translations  began  to  be 
made  before  the  time  of  Irenaeus  and  Tertullian.^  In 
the  case  of  the  Gospels  the  latter  statement  may  be 
taken  as  proved  for  the  Syriac  as  well  as  the  Latin 
translations.  It  follows  from  this  that  the  Christians 
from  the  very  first  were  more  zealous  in  translating  the 
Scriptures  than  the  Jews,  and  accordingly  we  may 
further  conclude  that  this  zeal  was  due  partly  at  least 
to  the  earnest  desire  to  place  the  Scriptures  in  the 
hands  of  the  faithful  for  their  private  use ;  for  in  the 
case  of  public  worship  persons  would  surely  have  been 
found  among  the  Christians,  as  they  were  among  the 
Jews,  who  were  capable  of  giving  an  oral  interpretation 

^  Fide  tlie  article  "  Bibeliibersetzungen "  in  Hauck's  RealenzyJcL, 
Bd.  iii.3  S.  169. 

2  Schiirer,  in  his  GescMchte  des  judischen  Volkes,  gives  no  evidence  for 
a  Jewish  Latin  Bible.  One  would  think  that,  if  it  had  ever  existed,  we 
must  have  heard  something  of  it. 

^  Irenaeus  speaks  only  of  the  Celts  and  Germans  as  people  who 
believed  without  knowing  and  reading  the  Holy  Scriptures,  not  of  the 
Latins.  It  is  possible  that  he  did  not  mention  these  because  he 
assumed  that  every  Latin  also  understood  Greek,  yet  it  is  not  probable. 
Zahn  {Gesch.  des  NTUchen  Kanons,  i.  S.  31  ff.,  51  ff.)  has  disputed 
the  existence  of  Latin  translations  of  books  of  the  Bible  before  a.d. 
200  ;  but  the  evidence  from  Tertullian  is  against  his  theory.  It  also 
follows  from  Hippol.  in  Dan.,  ed.  Bonwetsch,  S.  338,  that  the  Bible  then 
existed  in  a  Latin  translation. 


THE  TIME  BEFORE  IRENAEUS  47 

of  the  Scriptures.^  There  is  accordingly  not  much 
direct  evidence  that  can  be  produced  for  the  private 
use  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  during  this  period  ;  but  the 
fact  that  there  is  no  evidence  to  the  contrary  is  decisive. 
No  change  was  made  in  the  use  which  the  Jews  already 
made  in  private  of  the  sacred  volume;  moreover,  a 
Christian  would  naturally  be  more  conversant  with  this 
volume  than  a  Jew. 

1  The  beginnings  of  the  Latin  Bible,  especially  of  the  Latin  Old 
Testament,  lie  in  complete  obscurity.  Even  for  Augustine  this  was  so. 
He  writes,  indeed  {De  dodrina  Christ,  ii.  11):  "Qui  scripturas  ex 
Hebraea  lingua  in  Graecam  verterunt,  numerari  possunt,  Latini  autem 
iutei-pretes  nullo  modo.  Ut  enim  cuique  primis  fidei  temporihus  in 
manus  venit  codex  Graecus  et  aliquantulum  facultatis  sibi  utriusque 
linguae  habere  videbatur,  ausus  est  interpretari "  (compare  the  record 
of  Papias  concerning  the  translation  of  the  Hebrew  Logia  of  St 
Matthew  in  Eus.,  Hist.  Ecd.,  iii.  39),  but  what  he  says  is  of  course  not 
history  but  only  conjecture.  Even  he  at  all  events  knows  nothing  of 
pre-Christian  translations  of  the  Old  Testament  into  Latin.  Further 
investigation  must  show  whether  or  no  the  language  (the  vulgar  Latin) 
forbids  us  to  place  the  Latin  translations  earlier  than  the  second  century, 
and  whether  they  do  not  afford  internal  evidence  that  the  translators 
were  Christians.  RiJnsch  {Itala  und  Fulgata,  1875),  perhaps  rightly, 
does  not  even  raise  the  question  whether  the  Old  Testament  or  some 
books  of  the  same  were  not  already  translated  into  Latin  by  Jews. 


CHAPTER   II 

THE    PERIOD    FROM    IRENAEUS    TO    EUSEBIUS 

Behind  the  great  work  of  Irenaeus  against  the  heretics, 

and   still   more  behind  Tertullian's  tractate  De  Prae- 

scriptione   Haereticorum^  lie   sad    experiences   of   their 

authors  in  regard  to  the  Holy  Scriptures  both  of  the 

Old  and  the  New  Testament.     They  must  have  learned 

from  experience  that  these  Scriptures  were  brought  into 

the  field  to  support  stubborn  and  varied  assaults  upon 

the  most  precious  beliefs  of  Catholic  Christianity,  and  that 

the  refutation  of  heretical  exegesis  was  no  easy  matter 

and  was  often  not  altogether  successful.     Indeed,  they 

must  have  been  convinced  that,  if  the  absolute  certainty 

which  faith  required  was  once  placed  in  doubt,  it  could 

no  longer,  or  only  with  difficulty,  be  re-established  by 

an  appeal  to,  and  by  interpretation  of,  Holy  Scripture. 

During  the  second  half  of  the  second  century  the  Holy 

Scriptures  must  have  appeared  to   the  more  educated 

Christians  of  East  and  West  like  a  tremendous  battlefield 

whereon  conflicts  of  the  fiercest  description  were  fought, 

where   the  strongest  power,  the  Catholic  Church,  saw 

herself  continually  pressed  hard  by  foes  of  different  kinds, 

48 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS  49 

who  were,  however,  aUied  in  opposition  to  herself. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  Church  constructed  two 
new  strongholds,  or  rather  now  began  to  reconstruct 
them  as  central  fortresses  :  these  were  the  Apostolic  rule 
of  faith,  and  the  Apostolic  order  of  bishops  as  a 
guarantee  of  the  truth.  Into  their  safe  keeping  she 
committed  religion  itself,  and  from  these  she  could 
now  with  new  weapons  also  guard  the  great  battlefield 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  could  keep  it  within  her 
range  of  fire,  in  that  she  at  the  same  time  set  limits 
to  this  field  by  new  definitions  in  regard  to  the 
compass  of  the  new  sacred  writings  (the  foundation  of 
the  New  Testament).^ 

One  would  imagine  that  it  might  have  naturally 
occurred  to  the  Church  to  cut  at  the  root  of  these 
perilous  disputes  by  withdrawing  the  Holy  Scriptures 
from  publicity,  and  to  put  an  end  to  all  controversy  by 
declaring  that  these  Scriptures  were  given  solely  to  the 
Church,  that  is,  to  the  clergy,  and  that  profane  hands 
had  therefore  absolutely  nothing  to  do  with  them.  It 
was  forbidden  to  put  the  baptismal  symbol  in  writing ; 
part  of  the  public  worship  was  withdrawn  from  profane 
eyes ;  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  were  given  the 
form  of  mysteries;  limits  were  set  to  the  compass  of 
Holy    Scripture ;   many   other   measures   of  the   same 

1  Vide  my  Dogrnengeschichte,  i.^  S.  353-425,  Kunze  has  pub- 
lished a  comprehensive  and  original  treatise,  Glauhensregel,  heilige 
Schrift,  unci  Taufhekenntniss  (1899),  which  has  filled  up  certain 
gaps  in  earlier  investigation,  though  it  suffers  somewhat  from  one- 
sidedness. 


50    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

description  were  instituted.  Seeing  that  it  was  possible 
gradually  to  carry  out  all  these  changes  in  practically 
the  whole  of  Eastern  and  Western  Christendom^  it 
was  evidently  not  from  want  of  power  that  the  Church 
did  not  withdraw  the  Bible  from  the  laity,  that  she  did 
not  consign  it  exclusively  to  the  clergy  for  their  cautious 
use,  and  so  deliver  herself  with  one  stroke  from  most 
troublesome  and  perilous  disputes. 

No  one  in  the  Church  ever  thought  of  this.  Surely  one 
of  the  most  astounding  facts  in  the  internal  history  of  the 
Church,  and  one  which  affords  more  conclusive  testimony 
than  any  other  that  a  by  no  means  small  measure  of 
religious  independence  continued  to  be  regarded  as  a 
matter  of  course,  or — perhaps  more  correctly — that  it  was 
thought  that  no  limits  should  be  set  to  the  edifying 
and  sanctifying  influence  of  the  sacred  writings  !  Even 
Tertullian,  who  of  all  the  Fathers  lays  the  greatest  stress 
upon  the  rule  of  faith  and  had  had  in  controversy  the 
most  bitter  experience  of  the  inconclusiveness  and  in- 
security of  the  Catholic  interpretation  of  Holy  Scripture, 
even  he  does  not  for  one  moment  think  of  forbidding  or 
restricting  the  use  of  these  writings  by  the  laymen  of 
the  Church.  He  indeed  denies  that  heretics  have  any- 
thing to  do  with  the  Scriptures,  and  declares  it  to  be  a 
piece  of  effrontery  that  these  dare  to  express  an  opinion 
about  them  ;  he  also  warns  Catholic  Christians  not  to 
enter  into  a  controversy  with  heretics  concerning  the 
Holy  Scriptures  ;  but  this  is  the  only  restriction  which  he 
suggests.     The  thought  that  laymen  should  respectfully 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    51 

leave  the  Scriptures  to  the  clergy  lies  altogether  beyond 
his  horizon ;  rather  he  teaches  that  they  could  read 
them,  and  ought  to  read  them  industriously,  that  they 
should  search  them  with  inquiring  mind — ever,  of  course, 
under  the  guidance  of  the  rule  of  faith. ^ 

But  even  the  one  restriction  which  Tertullian  so 
zealously  urges  upon  his  readers — namely,  that  they 
should  not  enter  into  controversy  with  heretics  con- 
cerning the  interpretation  of  Scripture,  and  conse- 
quently, when  disputing  with  them,  should  dispense 
with  Scriptural  proofs — could  not  but  prove  to  be 
a  mere  theoretical  expedient  which  it  was  impossible 
to  carry  out  in  practice,  and    was   even    neglected  by 

^  Tertullian's  treatise,  De  Pracsc.  Eaer.  (see  especially  c.  8-12),  is 
of  such  extreme  importance  because  it  has  as  its  foil  the  author's 
hopelessness  that  anything  could  be  accomplished  against  the  heretics 
by  means  of  the  Scriptures.  Tertullian  therefore  takes  refuge  in  the 
rule  of  faith  and  the  episcopate — that  is,  he  appeals  to  the  Apostolic 
teachers  who  guarantee  the  authenticity  of  the  Creed.  How  easily  it 
might  have  occurred  to  hira  to  connect  the  Scriptures  in  the  same  way 
with  the  bishops  and  the  Apostolic  teachers  !  Nothing  of  the  kind  is, 
however,  to  be  found  in  his  pages  !  Rather  the  Scripture  is  for  him  an 
absolute  entity,  a  thing  by  itself;  and  he  is  just  as  certain,  indeed  he 
holds  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  what  the  Scripture  says  it  says  to 
everyone,  and  that  every  individual  has  direct  access  thereto.  Just  for 
this  reason  he  is  obliged  to  admit,  in  spite  of  all  attempts  at  shuffling, 
that  the  command,  "  Quaerite  (in  Scripturis),"  is  addressed  to  all. 
In  face  of  this  treatise  we  can  say  that  nothing  is  more  certain  than 
the  conclusion  that  it  did  not  belong  to  the  clergy  to  give  orders 
concerning  the  use  of  Holy  Scripture.  He  could  only  advise  and 
warn  his  readers  against  irreverent  inquisitiveness  in  their  search- 
ing of  the  Scriptures,  lest  they  should  in  their  searching  lose 
their  faith  ;  there  is  not,  however,  the  remotest  shadow  of  the 
* '  saving  expedient "  of  restricting  the  use  of  Scripture  by  means  of 
the  clergy. 


52    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Tertullian  himself.^  Irenaeus  also  seeks,  indeed,  to 
show  that  the  proof  for  the  truth  of  the  Catholic 
conception  of  doctrine  can  be  given  without  recourse 
to  Holy  Scripture  ;  ^  but  he  knows  very  well  that  in 
spite  of  this  the  Church  cannot  at  any  time  and  under 
any  circumstances  renounce  the  proof  from  Scripture, 
because  the  Holy  Scriptures  alone,  and  not  the  rule  of 
faith,  contain  the  direct  effata  divina  by  which  all 
Catholic  teaching  must  be  tested.  He  knows  this  and 
he  acts  accordingly:^  in  his  great  work  against  the 
heretics  the  proof  from  Scripture  occupies  the  largest 
room.*  Nor  do  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Hippolytus,  and 
Origen  think  and  act  otherwise.  Accordingly,  during 
this  period  the  use  of  Holy  Scripture  suffers  no  kind  of 
restriction.  Moreover,  in  spite  of  all  sad  experience,  the 
fiction  is  still  upheld  that  the  meaning  of  Holy  Scripture 
is  absolutely  clear  and  intelligible  :  ^  no  other  course  was 

^  Compare  liis  great  work  against  Marcion  and  his  other  contro- 
versial works  against  heretics,  in  all  of  which  the  proof  from  Scripture 
is  the  main  theme. 

2  In  this  aspect  the  Churches  sine  Uteris,  the  barbarian  Churches, 
are  to  him  of  great  importance. 

^  Iren.,  i.,  ii.  fin.,  iii.-v. 

^  According  to  Irenaeus  (iv.  33,  8),  the  "  tractatio  plenissima 
Scripturarum  "  and  the  ' '  lectio  sine  falsatione  "  belonged  to  the  most 
precious  treasures  of  the  Church. 

5  Fide,  e.g.,  Iren.,  ii.  27,  2:  "Cum  itaque  universae  scripturae  et 
prophetiae  et  evangelia,  in  aperto  et  sine  ambiguitate  et  similiter  ab 
omnibus  audiri  possint, "  etc.  The  views  of  the  Alexandrian  theologians 
are  here  more  complicated  ;  but  their  conviction  that  the  Scriptures 
had  a  secret  signification  which  was  only  revealed  to  the  true  "  Gnostic," 
and  that  a  secret  tradition  derived  from  Christ  stood  side  by  side 
with  the  public  tradition,  does  not  affect  the   view  that  even  these 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    53 

possible  if  restriction  of  the  use  of  Holy  Scripture 
was  not  even  to  be  thought  of  It  was  only  some 
Gnostic  sects  that  had  the  discernment  to  describe 
some  books  of  Scripture,  or  some  portions  of  the 
same,  as  unintelligible  to  the  layman,  i.e.  to  him  who 
was  not  a  Gnostic.^ 

In  this  period  we  first  begin  to  receive  abundant 
evidence  as  to  the  extent  of  the  private  and  domestic 
use  of  Holv  Scripture,  such  as  permits  us  to  draw 
conclusions  as  to  this  use  in  earlier  days.  "  Let  a  man 
take  refuge  in  the  Church,"  says  Irenaeus ;  "  let  him 
be  educated  in  her  bosom  and  be  nourished  from  the 
Holy  Scriptures  {dominicae  scripturae).'^  What  he 
means  is  clear  from  what  follows :  "  The  Church  is 
planted  like  Paradise  in  this  world;  of  every  tree  of 
this  Paradise  shall  ye  eat ;  that  is,  eat  ye  from  every 
scripture  of  the  Lord."  -  This  implies  an  unrestricted 
use.^     It  might  be  supposed  that  this  use  was  subject 

Scriptures  had  an  aspect  wherein  they  were  intelligible  and  accessible 
to  all.     The  Alexandrians  knew  nothing  of  esoteric  Scripture. 

^  Vide  Iren.,  ii.  27,  3  (iii.  5  and  elsewhere):  "Quia  enim  de 
excogitate  eorum  qui  contraria  opinantur  patre  nihil  aperte  ncque 
ipsa  dictione  {avroX^^^i)  neque  sine  controversia  in  nulla  omnino  dictum 
sit  scriptura,  et  ipsi  testantur  dicentes  in  absconso  haec  eadeni 
salvatorem  docuisse  non  omnes,  sed  aliquos  discipulorura  qui  possunt 
capere,  et  per  argumenta  et  aenigraata  et  parabolas  ab  eo  significata 
iutelligentibus."  It  is  probable  that  the  Valentinians,  whose  practice 
was  to  reveal  their  doctrines  to  their  catechumens  only  by  degrees, 
may  have  also  kept  portions  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  reserve ;  but 
we  have  no  more  definite  information. 

2  Iren.,  v.  20,  2. 

3  There  could  have  been  no  lack  of  manuscripts,  seeing  that  Irenaeus 
states  (v.  30,  1)  that  in  the  case  of  only  one  book,  the  Apocalypse  of 


54    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

to  a  certain  oversight  on  the  part  of  the  presbyters, 
seeing  that  Irenaeus  says  (iv.  33,  1):  "Post  deinde  et 
omnis  sermo  ei  [the  true  believer]  constabit,  si  et 
scripturas  diligenter  legerit  apud  eos  qui  in  ecclesia 
sunt  presbyteri,  apud  quos  est  apostolica  doctrina."^ 
But  the  words  "  apud  eos,  etc.,''  only  express  the  neces- 
sary presupposition  that  the  reader  must  belong  to  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  cannot  be  understood  in  the 
sense  that  supervision  was  exercised  over  the  reading 
of  Scripture.  If  Irenaeus  had  intended  this,  he  would 
have  expressed  himself  otherwise,  and  would  necessarily 
have  insisted  upon  this  rule  in  other  passages  of  his 
work.  He  does  not  think  of  any  control  of  Bible 
reading  in  particular,  but  of  the  great  deposit  of 
correct  interpretation  which  is  given  to,  and  is  the 
secure  possession  of,  him  alone  who  is  in  communion 
with  the  presbyters,  the  leaders  of  the  Catholic  and 
Apostolic  Church.  If  this  explanation  does  not  com- 
mend itself,  there  can  be  only  one  other  interpretation 
of  the  passage,  namely,  that  the  number  of  Bibles  was 
still  so  small  that  a  man  was  compelled  to  read  those 
in  the  hands  of  the  presbyters.  This  explanation  is 
not,  however,  probable. 

St  John,  he  had  consulted  numerous  manuscripts.  He  speaks  of 
TrdvT€5  01  (TTTovSaToL  Koi  apxoAOL  avTiypa(poL  of  this  book,  and  therefore 
knows  of  manuscripts  of  earlier  and  later  date,  and  also  distinguishes 
between  better  and  worse  exemplars.  These  could  not  all  have 
belonged  to  his  or  other  communities  ;  some  of  them  must  be  supposed 
to  have  belonged  to  private  persons. 

1  It  is  possible  that   this  passage  was  in   Lessing's  mind  when  he 
composed  his  incorrect  ninth  proposition  {vide  supra,  p.  14  f.). 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    55 

The  Holy  Scriptures  must,  as  far  as  possible,  be  read 
in  communion  with  the  presbyters  by  each  for  him.self 
if  he  would  advance  in  the  Christian  hfe — this  is  the 
opinion  of  Irenaeus,  and  this  opinion  is  also  shared  by 
the  other  early  Fathers  of  the  Church.^  This  is 
especially  clear  when  we  hear  Clement  and  Tertullian 
advise  that  married  people  should  read  the  Holy 
Scriptures  together.  It  is  evident  that  we  have  here  a 
rule  of  long  standing  for  Christian  families.  Clement 
writes  that  married  people  should  spend  the  day  in 
prayer,  reading  {i.e.  reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures), 
and  good  works  ;  -  and  Tertullian,  in  reference  to  mixed 
marriages,  which  he  disallows,  asks  the  question  :  "  Quae 
dei  mentio,  quae  Christi  invocatio,  ubi  fomenta  fidei 
de  scripturarum  interjectione  [interlectione  ?j.'' ^  Thus 
Bible   reading   forms  part  of  an  ideal   Christian   life. 

1  Even  Cyprian,  with  all  his  hierarchic  opinions,  forms  no  exception, 
for  we  learn  nothing  from  his  writings  of  any  discord  between  Bible 
and  hierarchy,  or  of  hierarchy  and  Bible  against  the  laity.  In  his 
treatise  De  Zelo  et  Livore (16)  he  writes :  "Sit  in manibus divina lectio, 
in  sensibus  dominica  cogitatio."  Similarly,  Novatian  (Pseudo-Cyprian) 
also  concludes  his  Adlocutio  de  bono  pudicUiae  with  the  words:  "  Ego 
pauca  dictavi,  quoniara  non  est  propositum  volumina  scribere  .  .  .  vos 
scripturas  aspicite,  exempla  vobis  de  ipsis  praeceptis  huius  rei  maiora 
conquirite."  The  writer  assumes,  even  though  it  be  only  the  assump- 
tion of  an  ideal,  that  the  Bible  is  in  the  hands  of  all.  Whether  in  the 
famous  inscription  of  Abercius  (assuming  its  Catholic  character)  Abercius 
really  relates  that  he  took  with  him  on  his  journey  a  copy  of  the  Epistles 
of  St  Paul  (just  as  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  took  the  book  of  Isaiah)  is 
of  course  doubtful  (vide  Texte  u.  Unters.,  Bd.  xii.  H.  4^,  S.  4  If.). 

-  Paedag.,  ii.  10,  96  :  .  .  .  bir-qviKa  eux^js  koI  avayvuxnws  koI  rwy 
fxed'  7]/jLfpay  ^vipyuy  ^pyuu  6  Kaip6s. 

2  Ad  Uxor.,  ii.  6.  The  context  shows  that  the  reference  is  to 
family  life. 


56    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

This  also  follows  conclusively  from  the  voluminous 
twelfth  chapter  of  Clement's  third  book  of  the  Paeda- 
gogus,^  which  affords  to  more  advanced  Christians 
guidance  to  a  gradual  advance  in  the  knowledge  of 
Holy  Scripture  by  personal  study.  Clement  also 
mentions  the  most  fitting  time  for  Bible  reading — 
namely,  before  the  chief  meal  of  the  day.'^  The  same 
Father  lays  great  emphasis  upon  the  general  accessibility 
of  the  Scriptures,^  and  though  he  believes  that  the 
deeper  significance  of  Scripture  is  only  revealed  to 
the  advanced  Gnostic,  still  he  teaches  that  its  simple 
significance  is  plain  to  everyone,*  and  that  each  man 
must  master  the  Scriptures  if  his  faith  is  to  have  a 
sure  foundation.^ 

Tertullian,   in   his  Apologeticus  (chap.  31),  exhorts 

Paedag,,  iii.  12,  87  :  "Oca  fxeu  ovv  oXkoi  Trapa(pv\aKTeov  Kal  ws  rhy 
8luu  iwavopdwreov.  Passages  in  the  theological  literature  of  this  period, 
which  incidentally  presuppose  private  Bible  reading,  are  very  numerous. 
Vide,  e.g.,  Hippolyt.  in  Daniel  iv.  15,  p.  222  :  Ae?  irdvTa  &i/0pa}irov  rhv 
ivrvyx°'-vovTa  rats  deiais  ypa(pa7s  jjUfjuTcrdai  rhu  irpocpTJTrii'  Aavir/A. 

'^  Strom.,  vii.  7,  49  :  at  irph  rrjs  ecrndaecos  eVreu^eis  tuu  ypa<p(ii>u. 
This  was  evidently  an  ancient  custom,  and  had  perhaps  descended  from 
Jewish  times. 

'  Stroo)i,  i.  7,  38  :  Aia  rovro  'EW-fiyccy  (pwvp  ripfjLT]vev6r)(rav  at  ypa<pai, 
a)S  fjL^  irp6(f>a<riv  ayvoias  irpofidw^adai  SvvrjOriual  Trore  avrovs.  In 
Strom.,  vii.  16,  97,  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  called  rd  iu  jxf^acf  Kal 
TrpSx^ipa.  It  is  the  more  lamentable  that  the  heretics  introduce 
^^/eva-fiara  and  Tr\d(rixaTa,  'Iva  5^  ev\6y(i}s  SS^axri  fi^  irpocriiadai  rds 
ypacpds  {Strom.,  vii.  16,  99). 

**  Clement  {Strom.,  vi.  15,  131)  refers  to  an  event  mentioned  by 
Hernias,  and  then  continues  :  'ES^Aou  8'  &pa  ttiv  fiey  ypa(f>))v  TTp6hr]\ov 
elvaL  iracTL  Kara  t^v  ^iX))v  dvdyvuaiv  iKXafx^avoixevriv,  Ka\  Tavrr]v  ^Ivai 
tV  TricTTiv  (TToix^iwv  rd^iv  exovffav. 

^  Strom.,  vii.  16,  95.  96, 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    57 

his  heathen  readers  to  consult  the  Holy  Scriptures 
'^  qtms  neque  ipsi  siibprimimus  et  plerique  casus  ad 
extraneos  transferunt/'  ^  He  does  not,  indeed,  believe 
that  they  will  follow  his  advice ;  for,  says  he,  they  of 
set  purpose  shut  themselves  off  from  the  truth  and 
cast  it  from  them.  In  his  treatise  De  testimonio  Animae 
(chap.  1 )  he  complains  bitterly :  "  Tanto  abest,  ut 
nostris  litteris  annuant  homines,  ad  quas  nemo  venit 
nisi  iam  Christianus."  This  is  an  important  statement. 
Celsus  was  thus  almost  a  white  blackbird !  ^  About 
the  year  a.d.  200  the  sacred  writings  of  the  Christians 
were  no  more  regarded  as  "  literature  "  than  the  tracts 
of  the  Salvation  Army  at  the  present  time.  Neverthe- 
less the  statement,  "ad  quas  nemo  venit  nisi  iam 
Christianus,"'  is  an  exaggeration  quite  in  Tertullian's 
style  ;  moreover,  it  was  not  only  "  plerique  casus  "  that 
made  non-Christians  acquainted  with  the  Scriptures, 
but  the  Christians  took  trouble  ("  non  subprimimus '') 
to  bring  them  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Greeks  wherever 
there  was  any  hope  that  they  would  be  appreciated.^ 

^  As  a  matter  of  curiosity,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  Walch  {loc.  cit. , 
S.  52)  here  translates:  "which  prescribe  so  many  special  duties 
towards  those  who  are  not  Christians  "  !  !  Lessing  has  already  pointed 
out  this  serious  error  in  his  letter  to  Walch. 

^  Cf.  Norden,  Kunstprosa,  S.  517  f.  :  "One  cannot  set  the  number 
of  those  heathen  who  read  the  New  Testament  at  too  low  a  figure.  .  .  . 
I  think  that  I  am  not  mistaken  in  stating  that  the  heathen  only  read 
the  New  Testament  if  they  wished  to  refute  it." 

^  Compare  Justin's  account  of  his  own  conversion.  The  numerous 
and  carefully  collected  passages  from  the  Bible  in  many  of  the  apologies 
are  also  to  be  regarded  as  extracts  from  the  Bible  for  readers  who 
otherwise  took  no  notice  of  that  book. 


58    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Seeing  that  the  Holy  Scriptures,  or  parts  of  them, 
were  to  be  found  in  many  Christian  families,^  there 
was  no  difficulty  about  their  accessibility. 

The  fact  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  were  constantly 
to  be  found  in  Christian  homes,  naturally  of  the  more 
wealthy  class,  follows  from  numerous  passages  in  the 
Christian  literature  of  the  third  century.  The  passage 
which  gives  the  fullest  evidence  on  this  point  comes 
from  the  "Apostolic  Didaskalia''  preserved  for  us  in 
the  Syriac;  we  quote  it  here  in  place  of  many  other 
passages.  This  passage  is  especially  noteworthy  because 
it  shows  that  the  aim  of  the  Church  was  also  to  turn 
the  attention  of  the  more  educated  Christians  to  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  and  by  this  means  to  satisfy  their 
craving  for  literary  culture,  so  that  evil  literature — 
whether  it  were  really  evil  or  simply  profane — might  be 


1  This  fact,  which  is  sufficiently  certain,  cannot,  however,  be  proved 
from  the  treatise  De  Corona,  i.  The  words,  "Nee  dubito  quosdam 
[quasdam,  H]  scripturas  [scriptore,  D  ;  secundum  scripturas,  B,  sec. 
man.]  emigrare,  sarcinas  expcdire,  fugae  accingi  de  civitate  in  civi- 
tatem,"  cannot  be  translated,  "that  certain  persons  get  rid  of  their 
Bibles."  At  a  pinch  "  emigrare  "  could  be  taken  as  "  emigrare  facere  " 
(with  reference  to  Ps.  li.  7,  Vulg.) ;  butif  they  themselves  migrated,  why 
should  they  not  take  their  Bibles  with  them  ?  Besides,  this  anxiety 
about  copies  of  the  Bible  would  have  been  natural  during  the  perse- 
cution of  Diocletian,  not  so  a  hundred  years  earlier.  If  the  text  is  in 
order,  of  which  I  am  not  certain  ( ' '  secundum  "  is  a  conjecture  to  remove 
a  difficulty),  one  must,  with  Walch  and  others,  translate  "  migrare  " 
by  "  to  overstep  or  exceed. "  How,  while  seeming  to  fulfil,  they  over- 
stepped the  ordinance  of  Matt.  x.  24  is  explained  by  Tertullian 
in  a  contemporary  treatise :  the  ordinance  was  meant  only  for  the 
Apostles.  Tertullian  chooses  the  word  ''emigrare"  in  view  of  the 
play  upon  words  which  follows. 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    59 

banished  from  Christian  homes.     The  passage  runs  as 
follows  : —  ^ 

"  If  thou  art  in  good  circumstances  and  needest  not 
to  work  for  thy  living,  do  not  wander  hither  and  thither 
wasting  your  time,  but  be  ever  zealous  to  visit  thy 
brethren  in  the  Faith.  Meditate  with  them,  and  in- 
struct thyself  in  the  Living  Word.  If  not,  stay  at 
home  and  read  in  the  Law,  in  the  Book  of  Kings  and 
the  Prophets,  and  in  the  Gospel  which  is  their  fulfil- 
ment. Keep  far  from  thyself  all  the  books  of  the 
heathen.  For  what  wouldst  thou  with  alien  words  or 
with  the  laws  and  false  prophecies  which  lead  away  the 
youthful  even  from  the  Faith  ?  What  then  dost  thou 
find  wanting  in  the  Word  of  God  that  thou  rushest  to 
these  heathen  stories?  If  thou  wouldst  read  history, 
thou  hast  the  book  of  the  Kings  ;  if  works  of  wise  men 
and  philosophers,  thou  hast  the  Prophets,  with  whom 
thou  findest  more  wisdom  and  understanding  than 
with  the  wise  and  the  philosophers;  for  they  are  the 
words  of  the  One  and  only  wise  God.  If  thou  desirest 
poetry,  thou  hast  the  psalms  of  David ;  if  thou  cravest 
information  concerning  the  beginnings  of  the  world, 
thou  hast  Genesis  written  by  that  great  man  Moses ; 
if  laws  and  ordinances,  thou  hast  the  Law,  the  glorious 
book  of  God  the  Lord.  Keep  thyself  wholly  from 
all  those  alien  works,  which  are  contrary  (to  Scripture). 
Nevertheless    when    thou    readest    in    the    Law    guard 

^   Fide  Achelis  and  Flemming  in  Textc  u.  Unters. ,  Bd.  xxv.  Heft  1 
(1904),  S.  5  f. 


60    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

thyself  from  the  'repetition  of  the  Law'  (the  cere- 
monial Law) ;  .  .  .  for  our  Saviour  is  come  for  no 
other  reason  than  to  fulfil  the  Law  and  to  deliver  us 
from  the  bonds  of  the  'repetition  of  the  Law."  .  .  . 
Thou  therefore,  who  art  freed  from  this  burden,  read 
the  simple  Law  which  agrees  with  the  Gospel,  and  also 
the  Gospel  itself  and  the  Prophets,  likewise  the  Book  of 
Kings  that  thou  may  est  know  how  many  kings  were 
righteous  and  by  the  help  of  God  the  Lord  attained  to 
renown  even  in  this  world  and  abided  in  God's  promise 
of  eternal  life.  Those  kings,  however,  who  fell  away 
from  God  and  served  idols,  according  to  their  desert 
came  to  fearful  ruin  by  a  speedy  judgment,  and  were 
deprived  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  instead  of  rest 
suffer  torment.  This  if  thou  so  readest,  thou  wilt 
greatly  grow  and  increase  in  the  Faith.'' 

A  new  aspect  of  the  efforts  to  extend  the  reading  of 
the  Bible  is  here  revealed  to  us.  The  aim  was  to 
repress  heathen  literature,  and  it  was  hoped  to  attain 
this  end  by  means  of  the  Bible,  whose  contents  satisfied 
such    various   and    different    needs. ^      Formal    decrees 

^  Novatian,  when  warning  his  readers  against  visiting  dramatic  plays, 
also  points  to  the  rich  dramatic  contents  of  Holy  Scripture,  the  reading 
of  which  could  well  take  the  place  of  the  pleasure  of  the  theatre  ; 
vide  De  SpecL,  10:  "Scripturis  sacris  incumbat  Christianus  fidelis : 
ibi  inveniet  condigna  fidei  spectacula.  videbit  instituentem  deum 
mundum  suum  et  cum  ceteris  animalibus  homines  illam  admirabilem 
fabricam  melioremque  facientem.  spectabit  mundum  in  delictis  suis  ( ! ), 
iusta  naufragia,  piorum  praemia  impiorumque  supplicia,  maria  populo 
siccata  et  de  petra  rursus  populo  maria  porrecta.  spectabit  de  coelo 
descendentes  messes,  non  ex  areis  aratro  impressas.  inspiciet  flumina 
transitus  siccas  refrenatis  aquarum  agminibus  exhibentia.     videbit  in 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    61 

against  reading  the  religious  literature  of  the  heathen 
and  the  heretics  were  not  issued  by  the  Church  before 
the  time  of  Constantine.  But  though  historical  and 
philosophical  literature  was  in  general  allowed — yet 
even  here  with  the  Apostolical  warning,  "  Beware 
lest  any  man  spoil  you  through  philosophy ''  ^ — 
and  indeed  could  not  be  dispensed  with  in  the 
interests  of  necessary  general  culture  and  of  apolo- 
getics, it  was  nevertheless  understood  from  the  first 
that  a  Christian,  as  a  matter  of  course,  must  keep 
aloof  from  the  foul  light  literature  of  the  times,  from 
frivolous  and  obscene  dramas,  from  books  of  mastic 
and  of  strange  religions.  It  was  still  more  clearly 
understood  that  he  must  avoid  reading  all  heretical 
literature.  If  he  might  not  company  with  a  heretic, 
might  not  eat  with  him,  might  not  greet  him,^  if 
even  the  listening  to  heretical  words  should  be  for 
him    a   thing  intolerable,^   still   less    might   he  read  a 

quibusdam  fidem  cum  igne  luctantem,  religione  superatas  feras  et  in 
mansuetudinem  conversas.  intuebitur  et  animas  ab  ipsa  iam  moite 
revocatas.  considenibit  etiam  de  sepulcris  ad  mirabiles  ipsorum  con- 
summatorum  iam  vitas  corporum  redactas.  et  in  liis  omnibus  iam 
mains  videbit  spectaculum,  diabolum  ilium,  qui  totum  detriumphaverat 
uumdum  sub  pedibus  Christi  iacentem  !  "  The  Bible  more  interesting 
and  exciting  than  the  play  !  Tertullian,  in  a  similar  connection, 
does  not  refer  clearly  to  private  Bible  reading,  though  he  too  says 
{De  Sped.,  29):  "Si  scenicae  doctrinae  delectant,  satis  nobis 
litterarum  est,  satis  versuum  est,  satis  sentientiarum,  satis  etiam 
canticorum,  satis  vocum,  nee  fabulae,  sed  veritates,  nee  strophae,  sed 
simplicitates." 

1  Col.  ii.  8. 

-  2  John  10  ;  Tit.  iii.  10  and  elsewhere. 

^   Fide  Polycarp  apud  Euseb.,  Hist.  Eccl.,  v.  20,  7. 


62    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

heretic's  books.^  In  this  direction,  indeed,  a  certain 
control,  though  not  an  organised  control,  was  exercised 
even  in  our  period,  as  an  instructive  story,  which 
Dionysius  the  Great  tells  of  himself,  testifies.^  The 
Didaskalia,  moreover,  teaches  us  that  the  beginnings  of 
the  efforts  to  thrust  profane  literature  altogether  aside 
fall  into  this  period,  and  that  the  Bible  was  brought  in 
to  take  its  place.  This  would  certainly  have  happened 
at  an  earlier  date  if  there  had  been  at  that  time  urgent 
need  for  such  regulations.     But  the  number  of  educated 

^  As  the  Muratorian  fiagment  teaches  us,  it  was  the  custom  even  so 
early  as  a.d.  200  to  add  to  the  catalogue  of  the  sacred  writings  received 
in  the  Church,  either  in  an  appendix  or  even  in  the  text  itself,  descrip- 
tions of  all  that  was  rejected  as  heretical.  Though  these  lists  were  in 
the  first  place  drawn  up  to  make  known  the  books  to  be  used  in  public 
worship,  they  were  also  meant  to  be  in  force  for  private  reading.  In 
the  earlier  days,  however,  wider  bounds  were  given  to  private  reading. 
Tertullian  {De  BapL,  17>  repels  an  attempt  to  prove  the  right  of 
woman  to  baptize  from  the  Acta  Pauli,  showing  that  this  book  was 
a  recent  forgery,  though  written  with  a  good  intention  ;  yet  there 
is  not  one  word  to  show  that  the  book  was  not  allowed  to  be  read 
("Quod  si  qui  Pauli  perperam  scripta  legunt,  exemplum  Theclae 
defendunt,  etc."). 

2  Dionys.,  Ep.  ad  Philem.,  apud  Euseh.,  Hist.  Ecd.,  vii.  7  :  '£70;  Se 
KoX  Tois  (Twrdytiafft  koL  rais  irapaSJo-eo-t  rwv  alperiKuv  4v4tvXov,  xpat»'«»' 
/iiev  fxov  irphs  oxiyov  t7]1'  <^ux  V  Ta??  iraixjxidpois  avriau  iiridv/x-qaeaiv,  ovt](Tiv 
5'  ovv  an  avTMv  ravTrju  Xafx^avuiv,  rh  6|eA.e7X^"'  avrovs  ■nap'  ijxavrif  Koi 
TToXv  irXeov  ^SeXvmadai.  Kal  S-f)  tivos  adeXcpov  rwv  it  pea  fivrepov 
[did  he  here  exercise  official  control  ?J  /ue  aTreipyouTos  Kal  SediTTo/xtvov 
(Xuficf>vpe(r9ai  t^  ttjs  irovriplas  aurwu  ^op^Spcp'  XvixaveLaQai  yap  t^v  ^vxhv 
t)]v  4/j.avTou,  Kol  aX-qOrj  ye  Xeyoi/Tos  us  rjcr66/u.7]v'  '6pafj.a  0€(^7re/x7rrov 
irpoaeXdhu  i-nippuxri  /le  [such  a  drastic  means  was  thus  needed],  Kal 
Xoyos  irpSs  /xe  yev6/j.€vos  -npoffeTa^e  ^lappii^w  xiyuv  Uaaiv  iyruyxay^ 
oh  h.v  els  x^'pas  xdfiois-  Suvdvj/eLV  yap  eKaara  Kal  SoKifidCeiv  iKavhs  e?, 
Kai  (Toi  yeyovi  tovto  e|  apxvs  xal  ttjv  TriVrews  a^riou  [accordingly, 
Dionysius  seems  to  have  become  a  believer  as  the  result  of  a  com- 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    63 

Christians  was  still  comparatively  small,  and  it  is  indeed 
probable  that  under  such  circumstances  members  of  the 
Christian  communities  were  proud  rather  than  other- 
wise to  greet  as  Christian  brethren  men  who  knew 
their  Plato  and  Sophocles  and  had  looked  into  all  the 
sciences.  In  the  second  century,  at  all  events,  Justin 
still  received  in  the  Christian  communities  the  title 
of  "Philosopher,"  side  by  side  with  the  honourable 
title  "  the  Martyr/' 

From  two  passages  in  the  pseudo-Clementine  epistle 
De  Virginitate  we  learn  that  into  homes  that  possessed 
no  Bible  brethren  would  come  and  would  hold  a  kind 
of  "cottage  lecture,"  in  which  they  would  read  the 
Scriptures.^     The   writer   is  combating  a  scandal  that 


parative  study  of  religions].  d7re5e|a,ui7J'  rb  '6pa^a,  ws  airoaToKiKT]  (ptavfj 
avvTp4xov  rf)  \cyova7]  irphs  Swarurepovs  [an  apocryphal  logion]'  yiveaOe 
SSKifjLoi  rpaTreC^Tai.  We  might  also  bring  in  here  the  story  which 
Eusebius  tells  us  {Hist.  EccL,  vi.  12)  concerning  Strapion,  bishop  of 
Antioch,  and  the  community  of  Rhossus,  relating  to  the  Gospel  of 
Peter.  But  it  is,  in  my  opinion,  concerned  not  with  private  reading 
but  with  public  lection.  Lessing,  moreover,  might  have  sought 
support  for  his  theory  that  Bible  reading  was  always  dejjendent  upon 
the  permission  of  the  bishop  or  the  clergy  in  this  story.  But  the 
passage  is  not  really  appropriate  for  such  a  purpose  ;  it  only  shows 
that  the  bishop  decided  the  question  when  a  controversy  had  arisen 
in  the  community  as  to  whether  or  no  the  Gospel  of  Peter  was  a 
fit  book  for  reading  at  public  worship.  In  such  cases  the  bishop 
would  be  appealed  to,  or  would  on  his  own  initiative  intervene  as  a 
matter  of  course. 

^  It  is  a  priori  certain  that,  side  by  side  with  the  central  services  for 
public  worship,  smaller  more  or  less  inlorraal  assemblies  continued  to 
exist,  wherein,  among  other  things,  sacred  books  would  be  read  ;  indeed, 
the  central  service  in  a  special  room  grew  out  of  the  less  formal  services 
in   private   houses,  and   did   not   quite  meet  the    needs   which    these 


64    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

had  crept  in  under  the  cloak  of  this  practice,  and  he 
says  of  certain  persons :  ^  "  Ahi  circumeunt  per 
domos  virginum  fratrum  aut  sororum  sub  praetextu 
visitandi  illos  aut  legendi  scripturas  aut  exorcizandi  eos 
aut  docendi."  And  in  another  passage  ^  we  read : 
"Propterea  non  psaUimus  gentilibus  neque  Scripturas 
illis  praelegimus."    Hippolytus  also  assumes  that  a  story 

supplied,  leaving  out  of  account  its  relative  infrequency.  Ignatius 
refers  to  informal  services  which  did  not  seem  to  him  to  be  without 
danger ;  the  existence  of  informal  assemblies  may  be  deduced  from 
Hermas,  Vis. ,  ii.  4,  3  ;  and  the  existence  of  religious  conventicles  in 
which  there  was  reading  from  Holy  Scripture  can  be  proved  for  the 
fourth  and  each  following  century.  Zahn  {Gesch.  des  NTlichen 
Kanons,  ii.  S.  Ill  f.)  thinks  that  the  words  of  the  Muratorian  fragment 
concerning  the  Shepherd  of  Rermas  are  to  be  referred  to  such  informal 
assemblies :  ' '  legi  eum  quidem  oportet,  se  publicare  vero  in  ecclesia 
populo  .  .  .  in  finem  temporum  non  potest. "  But  if  the  writer  intended 
in  this  passage  to  distinguish  between  informal  assembly  and  central 
public  worship,  he  would  necessarily,  in  my  opinion,  have  expressed 
himself  more  clearly.  "We  are  therefore  compelled  to  refer  "legi" 
simply  to  private  reading,  which  indeed  thereby  receives  extraordinary 
emphasis,  seeing  that  in  the  case  of  the  book  of  Hermas  private  reading 
is  not  only  allowed  but  even  strongly  commended.  The  meaning  here 
can  only  be  :  "  The  prophecies  and  revelations  of  the  Shepherd  must  ever 
abide  in  the  memory  of  the  faithful."  This  is,  however,  the  only 
passage  in  the  more  ancient  literature  where  it  is  plainly  stated  that 
writings  which  have  no  claim  to  canonical  rank  are  to  be  still  read, 
and  where  consequently  private  reading  is  called  in  to  assistance. 
Moreover,  this  explanation  of  this  passage  comes  to  practically  the  same 
thing  as  Zahn  s,  if  at  least,  with  Jlilicher  {Theol.  Lit.-Ztg.,  1889,  col. 
168),  it  is  thought  better  to  translate  "oportet"  by  "may,"  not  by 
' '  should  "  or  ' '  must. " 

1  i.  10. 

2  ii.  6.  Porphyry  in  Macarius  Magnes.  also  bears  witness  to  this 
house-to-house  visitation  of  Christian  teachers  in  order  to  read  passages 
from  the  Scriptures  (iii.  5):  .  .  .  d^eAet  yovv  x^^'^i  ov  -naXai, 
yvvat^v  ivax'hfJ^ocTL  toCt'  iiravayivclxTKoi'Tes'  llw\T]a6v  crovra.  virdpxoyTa 
Koi  Sbs  TTTWxo'iS,  Ka\  e|ejs  dr^aavphv  iv  ovpavols. 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    65 

like  that  of  Susanna  was  read  far  and  wide :  ^  "  I  now 
beseech  you  all  who  read  this  book,  women  and  maidens, 
small  and  great,  to  imitate  it,  that  ye  also  may  receive 
your  reward  from  God.  ...  Ye  men  also,  etc.'"*  The 
deepest  and  ultimate  reason,  however,  why  every 
Christian  should  read  the  Bible  lies  in  this,  that,  just  as 
everyone  should  speak  to  God  as  often  as  possible,  so 
also  everyone  should  listen  to  God  as  often  as  possible. 
Oratio  and  lectio  belong  together :  so  we  read  in  count- 
less passages  from  the  later  Fathers ;  but  Cyprian  had 
already  said  it  quite  clearly.  He  writes  to  Donatus 
(c.  15) :  "  Sit  tibi  vel  oratio  adsidua  vel  lectio ;  nunc 
cum  deo  loquere,  nunc  deus  tecum.""  ^ 

That   private   Bible   reading   must   have   been  very 

1  Comm,  in  Dan,  i.  22,  p.  34. 

2  Because  the  "lectio"  presents  God  as  the  speaker,  falsification  of 
Scripture  is  the  most  grievous  sin.  It  is,  says  Justin  {Dial.,  73),  worse 
than  the  setting  up  of  the  golden  calf,  than  the  sacrifices  to  Moloch 
and  the  slaying  of  the  prophets.  Nevertheless  there  was  no  lack  of 
falsification,  and  the  private  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  fostered  it. 
From  this  very  Dialogue  of  Justin  we  learn  of  Christian  interpolations 
in  the  Old  Testament.  From  these  we  must  naturally  distinguish  the 
cases  wherein  laymen  undertook  a  revision  of  the  texts  of  the  Bible  in 
the  conviction  that  they  were  correcting  them.  The  most  important 
example  is  the  text  of  Marcion,  who  indeed  has  corrected  nothing  but 
falsified  everything.  We  hear  that  the  Theodotians  in  Rome  {circa 
A.D.  200)  occupied  themselves  industriously  with  the  sacred  text; 
unfortunately,  we  know  no  details  ;  it  is,  however,  quite  plain  that  they 
were  concerned  with  manuscripts  which  were  in  private  possession 
(Hippol.  apud  Euseb,,  Hist.  Eccl.,  v.  28,  15  sq.)-.  rais  deiais  ypa(pa7s 
a(p6ficDS  iir€^a\ov  raj  x^'^P"^'  ^^youres  avras  SiwpOwKej/ai.  Kal  6ti  tovto 
fi^  KaTa\l/ivS6iLLfvos  avruu  Keyoo,  d  fiov\6fiivos  ^vvarai  /xaOeTu.  el  yap  tis 
OfX-fitrei  (TvyKOfjiiaas  avTwy  eKaffTov  ra  avTiypacpa  i^cTd^tiy  irphs 
&A\7j\a  [this  must  have  been  possible,  i.e.  these  critics  must  have  pub- 
lished their  recensions  of  the  text),  /cotcI  iro\v  &i/  ivpoi  Sia<puvovvTa  [com- 

5 


66    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

common  may  be  lastly  established  by  a  conclusion  a 
minore  ad  majus — namely,  from  the  wide  circulation  of 
Christian  literature  other  than  the  books  of  the  Bible. 
Here  it  is,  of  course,  difficult  to  gain  a  clear  and  exact 
conception;  but  one  has  the  impression  that  very 
much  more  in  regard  to  the  reading  of  theological 
and  edifying  books  was  required  from  the  Christian 
laymen  than  from  the  laymen  of  other  religions.  Here 
also  the  spiritual  character  of  this  religion  shows  itself. 
How  many  theological  works  are  dedicated  to  laymen, 
how  quickly  these  books  spread  everywhere  ^  and  were 
really  read  even  by  laymen,  how  little  of  clerical 
character  they  show  even  so  late  as  the  third  century ! 
They  were  intended  for  all  Christians,  and  even  the 
most  difficult  of  them  are  addressed  to  the  whole  of 
Christendom,  even  though  only  a  small  fraction  could 
have  been  competent  to  read  and  understand  them. 
Very  significant  in  this  connection  are  incidental  re- 
marks like  that  of  TertuUian  that  the  "  gloriosissima 
multitude  psychicorum  "  are  ignorant  and  have  gained 
their  knowledge  of  the  new  movement,  together  with 

pare  also  what  follows].  Arbitrary  conjectures  are  judged  to  be  sacrilege 
inspired  by  tbe  daemons,  because  ' '  the  critics  would  wish  to  be  wiser 
than  the  Holy  Spirit."  Compare  also  how  Irenaeus  judges  those  who 
had  introduced  and  championed  the  variant  616  as  the  number  of 
Antichrist  (v.  30,  1).  In  the  fourth  century  Sulpicius  Severus  writes 
(Dial.,  i.  6) :  "  Non  est  mirum,  si  in  libris  neotericis  et  recens  scriptis 
fraus  haeretica  fuisset  operata,  quae  in  quibusdam  locis  non  timuisset 
impetere  evangelicam  veritatem."  Dionysius  of  Corinth  had  already 
made  the  same  complaint  (Euseb.,  Hist.  Ecd.,  iv.  23,  12). 

1  See   the    evidence    adduced  in  my   Geschichte   der    Mission.,   i.^ 
S.  314  f. 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    67 

the  regulations  of  the  Paraclete,  "  sola  forsitan  lectione, 
lion  etiam  intentione/' ^  ""Sola  lectione^'' — it  is  strange 
indeed  that  they  should  have  gained  their  know- 
ledge in  this  way,  and  we  conclude  therefrom  that 
the  knowledge  of  the  Bible  must  have  been  still  more 
widely  spread. 

In  time  it  must,  of  course,  have  been  more  and  more 
clearly  seen  that  it  was  unwise  to  launch  young  and 
immature  Christians  rudderless  upon  the  wide  ocean 
of  the  Bible.  It  was  this  that  led  Cyprian  to  publish 
his  Testimonial  a  systematised  collection  of  Biblical 
quotations  for  the  use  of  the  "  tirones,"  "  quae  legenti 
prosint  ad  prima  fidei  liniamenta  formanda,""  ^  a  book 
which  quickly  gained  wide  circulation  and  had  immense 
influence.  But  Cyprian  had  not  the  slightest  intention 
that  his  book  was  to  take  permanently  the  place  of  the 
Bible ;  rather  he  meant  that,  as  soon  as  his  book  had 
fulfilled  its  purpose,  it  was  to  give  way  to  the  Bible 
itself.^  "  Plus  roboris  tibi  dabitur  et  magis  ac  magis 
intellectus  cordis  operabitur  scrutanti  scripturas  veteres 
et  novas  plenius  et  universa  librorum  spiritualium 
volumina  perlegenti,  nam  nos  nunc  de  divinis  fontibus 
implevimus  modicum,  quod  tibi  interim  mitteremus, 
bibere  uberius  et  saturari  copiosius  poteris,  si  tu  quoque 

^  De  Jejunio,  11. 

2  Testim.,  Praef. 

'  The  Testimonia  still  had  their  value  even  for  one  who  had  advanced 
to  independent  reading  of  the  Bible,  for  every  Christian  was  supposed 
to  have  at  hand  in  concise  form  the  Scriptural  proof  for  the  clauses 
of  the  Baptismal  Creed,  that  is,  the  rule  of  faith  ;  vide  infra,  what 
Cyril  of  Jerusalem  directs. 


68    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

ad  eosdem  divinae  plenitudinis  fontes  nobiscum  pariter 
potaturus  accesseris/'  It  is  also  true  of  other  works  of 
the  Fathers  that  they  were  intended  to  precede  and  lead 
up  to  reading  of  the  Bible,  though  this  is  not  expressly 
stated  as  it  is  in  the  introduction  to  Cyprian's  Testi- 
monia.  Theoretically,  the  Bible  was  the  one  book, 
the  only  book  of  edification  ;  but  practically  it  pre- 
sented, especially  to  readers  in  the  Latin  tongue, 
such  serious  difficulties  in  the  way  of  comprehension, 
and  so  much  that  could  only  be  rendered  edifying  by 
interpretation,  that  there  was  a  great  demand  for 
books  of  edification  apart  from  the  demand  for  works 
of  introduction  to,  and  interpretation  of,  the  Bible. 
We  shall  see  in  the  next  chapter  what  an  important 
position,  side  by  side  with  the  Bible,  the  treatises 
and  epistles  of  Cyprian  attained  in  the  fourth 
century. 

Almost  all  that  we  have  hitherto  written  concerning 
the  private  use  of  Holy  Scripture  receives  ample  support 
from  the  works  of  the  great  Biblical  scholar  Origen.  I 
would,  however,  adduce  from  the  multitude  of  pertinent 
passages  those  only  which  contain  something  of  more 
special  interest. 

1.  Origen  speaks  pretty  frequently  of  the  reading  of 
Holy  Scripture  at  home,  and  strongly  commends  it.  It 
should  be  read  every  day,^  and  even  one  to  two  hours 

^  Horn.  X.  in  Genes.,  2  T.  viii.  (ed.  Lommatzch),  p.  218 :  "  Rebecca 
quotidie  veniebat  ad  puteos  .  .  .  docet  quotidie  venire  ad  puteos 
scripturarum,  ad  aquas  spiritus  sancti  et  haurire  semper,  etc." 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    69 

seem  to  him  too  little  to  devote  to  Divine  things.^ 
The  latter  remark  shows  him  advancing  along  the  path 
which  he  has  often  enough  trodden  at  other  times,  i.e. 
he  holds  up  before  the  general  body  of  Christians  an 
ideal  which  can  only  be  realised  in  the  cloister.  "  Con- 
versum  esse  ad  dominum  est,  si  his  omnibus  [sc.  terrenis] 
terga  vertamus  et  studio,  actibus,  mente,  sollicitudine 
verba  dei  operam  demus  et  in  lege  eius  die  et  nocte 
meditemur,  omissis  omnibus  deo  vacemus,  exerceamur 
in  testimoniis  eius"*'  (Hom.  in  Exod.  xii.  27,  2  T.  ix. 
p.  143). 

2.  Origen  speaks  in  several  passages  of  the  taedium 
verbi  divini  among  Christians ;  the  reading  of  the 
Scriptures  in  church  and  at  home  is  distasteful  to  them, 
indeed  they  do  all  they  can  to  escape  from  it.^  This 
is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  a  worldly  popular 
Christianity  which  we  first  find  depicted  in  the  works 
of  Origen  and  Cyprian,  and  which  strikes  us  the  more 

^  Horn.  ii.  in  Num.,  1  T.  x.  p.  19:  "  Sed  et  unusquisque  nostrum 
si  de  cibo  et  potu  sollicitus  sit  et  omnem  curam  in  rebus  saecularibus 
gerat,  unam  vero  aut  duas  horas  ex  integro  die  etiam  deo  deputet  et  ad 
orationem  veniat  in  ecclesiam  vel  in  transitu  verbum  dei  audiat, 
praecipuam  vero  curam  erga  sollicitudinem  saeculi  et  ventris  expendat : 
iste  non  complet  mandatum,  quod  dicit,  ut  homo  secundum  ordinem 
8uum  incedat.''  In  reference  to  home  reading  see  also  Hom.  xi. 
in  Gen.,  3  T.  viii.  p.  231  ;  xii.  in  Gen.,  5  T.  viii.  p.  239  sq.  ;  Hom. 
xii.  in  Exod.,  2  T.  ix.  p.  143  sq.  "  Divina  lectio"  side  by  side 
with  "orationes  assiduae "  and  "sermo  doctrinae"  ("non  solimi 
in  ecclesia  audire  verbum  dei,  sed  in  domibus  vestris  exerceri ") 
as  "nutrimentum  spiritus,"  Hom.  xi.  in  Levit.,  7  T.  ix.  p. 
356. 

-  Hom.  X.  in  Genes.,  1  T.  viii.  p.  216  ;  Hom.  xii.  in  Exod.,  2  T.  ix. 
p.  142  sq.  ;  Horn.  xx.  in  lesu  Nave,  1  T.  xi.  p.  170. 


70    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

forcibly  because  the  earlier  Fathers  in  their  writings  so 
seldom  refer  to  it.  Origen  speaks  of  it  with  the  deepest 
grief;  for  these  people  lose  that  daily  renewing  of 
the  spirit  which  is  the  fruit  of  daily  reading  of  the 
Bible.i 

3.  The  fact  that  the  style  of  the  Biblical  narra- 
tives and  exhortations  was  not  in  accord  with  a 
more  refined  taste  contributed  somewhat  to  this 
taedium  verbi  divhii.  It  is  not  only  against  Celsus^ 
that  Origen  defends  the  unassuming  form  of  the 
Bible  (because  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  be  intelligible  to  those  also  who  were  un- 
educated and  insignificant  in  the  eyes  of  the  world, 
and  because  mysteries  lay  hidden  behind  the  out- 
ward form),  but  he  also  defends  it  in  the  Homilies.^ 
In  contrast  with  the  taedium  verbi  divini  felt  by 
many   Catholic   Christians    stands   the    opposite    evil, 

^  Comment  in  Rom.,  lib.  ix.  1  T.  vii.  p.  288.  "  Renovatur  sensus 
noster  per  exercitia  sapientiae  et  meditationem  verbi  dei  et  legia  eius 
intelligentiam  spiritualem,  et  quanto  quis  quotidie  ex  scripturarum 
proficit  lectione,  quanto  altius  intellectus  eius  accedit,  tanto  semper 
novus  et  quotidie  novus  efficitur." 

2  Cont.  Cels.,  vi.  1  f. 

3  Vide,  e.g.,  Hom.  xv,  in  Gen.,  1  T.  viii.  p.  259:  "Quae  observa- 
tiones  ostendunt  scripturam  divinam  non,  ut  plurimis  videtur, 
inerudito  et  agresti  sermone  compositam,  sed  secundum  disciplinam 
divinae  eruditionis  aptatam,  neque  tantum  historicis  narrationibus, 
quantum  rebus  et  sensibus  mysticis  servientem."  Similarly  in  many 
other  passages,  e.g.  Hom.  viii.  in  lesu  Nave,  1  T.  xi.  p.  74  :  "  Depreca- 
mur  vos  non  cum  taedio  vel  fastidio  ea,  quae  leguntur,  audire  pro  eo  quod 
minus  delectabilis  eorum  videtur  esse  narratio."  De  Princip.  iv. 
1.  7.  26. 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    71 

the    "much    searching"   into   the    Scriptures    of    the 
heretics,  who  thereby  rush  into  perdition.^ 

4.  As  for  the  understanding  of  Holy  Scripture, 
Origen  necessaril}'  holds  fast  to  the  principle  that  the 
Scriptures  are  quite  accessible  even  to  simple  believers  ; 
they  must  therefore  have  them  daily  at  hand.  The 
thought,  that  priests  and  deacons  as  such  are  more 
capable  of  understanding  Scripture  than  laymen,  is 
absolutely  alien  to  Origen.  On  the  contrary,  he  states 
openly  that  laymen  could  often  be  better  exegetes 
than  the  clergy,  who  often  enough  had  the  veil  drawn 
before  their  eyes.-  But  while  he,  on  the  other  hand, 
states  that  the  Catholic  Gnostic  whose  mind  is  en- 
lightened by  the  Holy  Spirit  is  alone  capable  of 
entering  into  the  depths  of  Holy  Scripture,^  the  con- 

1  Horn.  iv.  in  Levit.,  5  T.  ix.  p.  223:  "Est  ergo  ostendere,  qui 
multum  quaerendo  invenit  perditionem  :  ut  verbi  gratia  dicamus : 
haeretici  ad  construenda  et  defendenda  dogmata  sua  multum  perquinint 
et  discutiunt  in  scripturis  divinis  ut  inveniant  perditionem. "  Similarly 
Tertullian,  in  his  treatise  De  Praescr,  Haeret. 

'^  Horn,  il  in  Num.,  1  T.  x,  p.  19:  "  Saepe  accidit  ut  is,  qui 
humilem  sensum  gerit  et  abjectum  et  qui  terrena  sapit,  excelsum 
sacerdotii  gradum  vel  cathedram  doctoris  insideat,  et  ille  qui  spiritualis 
est  et  a  terrena  conversatione  tam  liber,  ut  possit  examinare  omnia  et 
ipse  a  nemine  iudicari,  vel  inferioris  ministerii  ordinem  teneat  vel 
etiam  in  plebeia  multitudine  relinquatur,  etc."  Origen  here  speaks 
from  his  own  experience. 

»  Cf.  Greg.  Thauniat.,  Panegyr.  in  Orig.,  c.  15.  He  says  that 
Origen  himself  as  an  expounder  of  the  Bible  drew  from  the  same 
source  of  inspiring  power  as  the  prophets.  As  for  the  obscurities 
of  Scripture,  Gregory  advances  the  hypothesis  that  they  are  so 
because  our  souls  are  unworthy  to  understand  them,  and  that  we 
have  lost  through  the  Fall  the  power  of  understanding  what  is  really 
clear. 


72    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

science  of  the  great  scientific  teacher  also  reacts  to  the 
claim  of  the  simple  and  immature  believers,  and  he 
recommends  them  to  read  the  books  that  were  easier 
and  accessible  to  their  understanding.  He  writes  : —  ^ 
"  Inter  homines  sunt  quaedam  differentiae  in  appe- 
tendis  cibis,  et  alius  quidem,  qui  bene  sanus  est  et 
habitudine  corporis  valens,  fortem  cibum  requirit  et 
credit  confiditque  se  edere  omnia,  velut  robustissimi 
quique  athletarum.  si  quis  vero  infirmiorem  se  sentit 
et  invalidum,  delectatur  oleribus  et  fortem  cibum  pro 

1  Horn,  xxvii.  in  Num.,  1  T,  x.  p.  332  f.  Referring  especially  to  the 
Song  of  Songs  he  speaks  as  follows  (Prolog,  in  Cantic.  Cant.,  T.  xiv. 
p.  288  sq.) :  "Prime  scire  uos  oportet,  quoniam,  sicut  puerilis  aetas 
non  movetur  ad  amorem  passibilem,  ita  nee  ad  capienda  qnidem  verba 
haec  parnila  et  infantilis  interioris  hominis  aetas  admittitur,  illorum 
scilicet,  qui  lacte  in  Christo  aluntur,  non  cibo  forti,  et  qui  nunc  primum 
rationabile  et  sine  dolo  lac  concupiscunt.  .  .  .  Parvuli  si  veniant  ad 
haec  loca,  potest  fieri,  ut  nihil  quidem  ex  hac  scriptura  proficiant  nee 
tamen  valde  laedantur,  vel  ipsa  quae  scripta  sunt  legentes,  vel  quae  ad 
explanationem  eorum  dicenda  sunt  recensentes.  si  vero  aliquis 
accesserit,  qui  secundum  carnem  tantummodo  vir  est,  huic  tali  non 
parum  ex  hac  scriptura  discriminis  periculique  nascetur  .  .  .  occasione 
divinae  scripturae  commoveri  et  incitari  videbitur  ad  libidinem 
carnis.  ob  hoc  ergo  moneo  et  consilium  do  omni,  qui  nondum 
carnis  et  sanguinis  molestiis  caret  neque  ab  affectu  naturae  materialis 
abscedit,  ut  a  lectione  libelli  huius  eorumque  quae  in  eo  dicentur 
penitus  temperat.  aiunt  enim  observari  etiam  apud  Hebraeos, 
quod,  nisi  quis  ad  aetatem  perfectam  maturamque  pervenerit, 
libellum  hunc  ne  quidem  in  manibus  tenere  permittatur,  sed  et 
illud  ab  iis  accepimus  custodiri,  quandoquidem  moris  est  apud  eos, 
omnes  scripturas  a  doctoribus  et  a  sapientibus  tradi  pueris  simul 
et  eas,  quas  Sevrepwa-eis  appellant,  ad  ultimum  quattuor  ista  [scil, 
retiueri],  i.e.  principium  Genesis,  in  quo  mundi  creatura  describitur, 
et  Ezechielis  prophetae  principia,  in  quibus  de  Cherubim  refertur,  et 
finem,  in  quo  templi  aedificatio  continetur,  et  hunc  Cantici  Canti- 
corum  librum." 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    7S 

sui  infirmitate  corporis  non  recipit.  si  vero  sit  aliquis 
parvulus,  etiamsi  voce  indicare  non  possit,  re  tamen 
ipsa  nullam  aliam  quam  lactis  requirit  alimoniam,  .  .  . 
Siciit  in  nutrimentis  corporis  multas  dedinius  differentias, 
ita  et  natura  rationabilis,  quae  ratione  et  verbo  dei 
pascitur,  non  omnis  uno  atque  eodem  verbo  nutritur. 
unde  ad  similitudinem  corporalis  exempli  est  aliquibus 
etiam  in  verbo  dei  cibus  lactis :  apertior  scilicet 
simpliciorque  doctrina,  ut  de  moralibus  esse  solet,  quae 
praeberi  consuevit  iis,  qui  initia  habent  in  divinis 
studiis  et  prima  eruditionis  rationabilis  elementa 
suscipiunt.  his  ergo  cum  recitatur  talis  aliqua 
divinorum  voluminum  lectio,  in  qua  non  videatur 
aliquid  obscurum,  libenter  accipiunt,  verbi  causa,  ut 
est  libellus  Hester  aut  Ivdith  vel  etiam  Tohiae  aut 
mandata  Sapientiae.  si  vero  legatur  ei  liber  Levitici, 
ofFenditur  continuo  animus  et  quasi  non  suum  refugit 
cibum.  .  .  .  Sed  et  alius,  cum  leguntur  Evangelia 
vel  Apostolus  aut  Psalmi,  laetus  suscipit,  libenter 
amplectitur  et  velut  remedia  quaedam  infirmitatis 
suae  inde  colligens  gaudet.  huic  si  legatur  Numer- 
onim  liber  et  ista  maxime  loca,  quae  nunc  habemus 
in  manibus  (Num.  xxxiii.),  nihil  haec  ad  utilitatem 
nihil  ad  infirmitatis  suae  remedium  aut  animae  salutem 
prodesse  iudicabit."  Here  we  are  told  in  plain 
words  what  we  otherwise  could  only  conjecture,  that 
the  Old  Testament  Apocrypha  formed  the  first  stage 
in  Bible  reading,  the  Psalms,  Gospels,  and  Epistles 
the  second,  while   the  remaining  books   of  the    Bible 


74    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

took  their  place  in  order  as  further  stages.^  May  it 
not  be  that  this  temporal  precedence  of  the  Apocrypha 
in  Alexandria  and  elsewhere  existed  in  late  Judaism, 
and  thence  passed  over  into  the  practice  of  the  Church  ? 
This  preparatory  course  was  by  no  means  in  every  aspect 
a  fortunate  one  for  the  development  of  the  Christian 
character.  How  many  may  have  carefully  read  only 
these  books  during  their  catecliumenate,  and  afterwards 
have  assimilated  only  fragments  of  the  remaining  books  ! 
This  was  not,  of  course,  what  Origen  meant ;  he  wished 
that  a  man,  in  his  course  of  progressive  reading,  should 
not  shrink  back  even  from  the  difficult  and  obscure 
passages  of  Holy  Scripture,  for  indeed  even  in  that 
which  is  not  understood  there  lies  power  for  good.^ 

^  Origen  (Conam.  in  Matth.,  T.  iii.  p.  40)  cannot  be  referring  to  the 
whole  Old  Testament,  but  only  to  the  more  difficult  books  of  the  same, 
when  he  urges  that  a  man  should  not  read  only  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament :  l^vvdy^iv  navTl  rp6ir(f  TreipaT^ov  iv  rr}  KapSia  rjfxwv  Sio  rov 
irpocr^xeiv  tt)  auayvcaai,  rrf  irapaKX-na-ei,  ttj  SiSaffKaKiq,  Koi  iv  rep  v6fi(f 
Kvpiov  /xfkiTqv  TjfjLepas  Kal  vvkt6s,  ov  ix6vov  to  kolivo.  Tuy  ^vayy^XKav 
Ka\  ruv  a,irocrT6\(DP  Koi  rrjs  airoKaXvipews  avruv  X6yia,  a\A.a  /cot  TraXaia 
rov  (TKiav  ^xovTos  rooy  iJ.iK\6vT(i)v  ayaBwv  vSixov  koI  rcoy  aKoKovdecs 
avTo7s  TTpocprjTevo'a.VTWp  irpocpriTwy. 

2  Compare  Horn.  xx.  in  lesu  Nave,  1  T.  xi.  p.  170  sq.  Here  Origen 
beautifully  and  truly  shows  how  "  taedium  "  may  arise  from  the  fact 
that  the  passage  read  is  not  understood,  but  he  exhorts  the  reader  or 
hearer  to  strive  to  understand,  in  the  hope  that  even  what  is  more 
difficult  will  become  clear.  He  proceeds  to  say  that  even  the  sound 
of  sacred  words  in  the  ear,  though  their  sense  may  be  obscure,  is 
beneficial  ;  he  reminds  his  readers  of  the  power  of  the  mere  words  of 
heathen  magic  :  how  much  greater  must  be  the  effect  of  sacred  words  ! 
We  have  here  truly  antique  feeling  !  Origen,  indeed,  often  astonishes 
us  by  saying  things  which  show  that  he  shared  much  of  the  super- 
stitious feeling  of  his  times. 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    75 

We  hear  of  Origen  himself^  that  he,  "  exercised  already 
from  childhood  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  had  laid  a  good 
foundation  for  the  teaching  of  the  Faith.  He  had, 
moreover,  spent  no  slight  labour  in  their  study,  for  his 
father,  besides  seeing  that  his  son  was  instructed  in  the 
usual  subjects  of  study,  made  a  special  point  of  instruction 
in  the  Scriptures.  He  incited  him  to  practise  himself 
above  all  in  the  doctrines  of  religion  in  preference  to 
study  of  Greek  learning,  and  made  him  each  day  learn 
and  say  by  heart  some  passages  (eKjmaOrjcretg  Kai 
e-TrayyeXm?,  scil.  of  Holy  Scripture).  This  was  in  no 
way  distasteful  to  the  boy  ;  he  indeed  undertook  the  task 
with  the  greatest  joy.  He  was  not  satisfied  with  the 
simple  and  superficial  reading  of  Holy  Scripture,  but 
he  strove  to  go  further  and,  child  as  he  was,  to  search 
out  its  deeper  significance,  so  that  he  even  perplexed  his 
father  with  his  questions  as  to  the  significance  of  divinely 
inspired  Scripture.''  We  have  here  a  glimpse  into  the 
home  of  an  ordinary  Christian  citizen :  the  children 
daily  hear  the  Scriptures  read  and  learn  passages  of  them 
by  heart.  A  Bible  was  not  only  in  the  home  :  the  Bible 
was  the  principal  text-book  of  education  ;  the  chief  aim 
in  the  whole  training  of  a  child  was  that  he  should  be 
taught  to  understand  the  Bible. 

Porphyry,  the  great  opponent  and  rival  of  Origen,  con- 
ducted his  forcible  attack  upon  Christianity  as  an  attack 
upon  the  Bible.     If  we  compare  the  plan  of  his  great 
work — so  far  as  we  can  form  an  opinion  from  its  fragments 
1   Fide  Euseb.,  Hist.  £ccL,  vi.  2,  6  gq. 


76    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

— with  the  entirely  different  plan  of  Celsus'  polemical 
treatise,  it  is  at  once  obvious  that  the  great  book  of 
Christendom  had  in  the  course  of  eighty  years  won  a 
position  so  fundamental  and  central  that  Christianity 
could  only  be  judged  by  it,  and  that  it  was  now  in  the 
fullest  sense  accessible  to  the  public.  Porphyry  had 
not  to  drag  hidden  mysteries  into  the  light ;  his  business 
was  to  refute  by  stringent  historical  and  philosophical 
criticism  the  public  documents  of  Christianity.  He 
therefore  never  pretends  to  enlighten  the  educated 
public  concerning  the  nature  of  Christianity,  as  if  this 
were  concealed  b}^  the  Christians ;  his  intention  is  only 
to  display  before  the  eyes  of  this  public,  which  will  not 
take  the  trouble  to  study  this  religion,  its  pitiful  and 
utter  worthlessness.  From  this  fact  we  can  judge  of 
the  degree  of  publicity  of  the  Christian  sacred 
writings.^ 

1  Hierocles,  in  his  controversial  treatise,  adopts  exactly  the  same 
procedure  as  Porphyry  :  in  order  to  refute  the  Christians  he  makes  an 
assault  on  the  Bible  :  "in  libris  suis  ita  falsitatem  Scripturae  sacrae 
arguere  conatus  est,  tamquam  sibi  esset  tota  contraria.  nam  quaedam 
capita  quae  repugnare  sibi  videbantur  exposuit  adeo  multa,  adeo 
intima  enumerans,  ut  aliquando  ex   eadem  disciplina  fuisse  videbatur 

.  .  nisi  forte  casu  in  manus  eius  divinae  litterae  inciderunt.  quae 
igitur  temeritas  erat  id  audere  dissolvere  quod  illi  nemo  interpretatus 
est."  Hierocles  also  laid  emphasis  on  the  barbaric  style  of  the 
Scriptures:  '*  discipulos  Christi  rudes  et  indoctos  fuisse  testatus  est" 
(Lactant.  v.  2).  One  may  besides  raise  the  question  whether  one 
reason  that  Porphyry  and  Hierocles  investigated  the  Bible  so  micro- 
scopically and  attacked  it  so  bitterly  was  because  they  knew  that 
educated  Greeks  were  beginning  to  devote  sympathetic  attention  to 
the  Bible  or  to  parts  of  it— indeed,  that  Neoplatonic  philosophers  were 
beginning  to  study  Moses  and  St  John  with  zeal  and  approval,  and 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    77 

Wealthy  Christians  also  contributed  to  this  publicity 
by  having  Bibles  copied  at  their  own  expense  and  by 
giving  them  or  lending  them  to  their  poorer  brothers  and 
sisters.  Thus  we  are  told  of  Pamphilus,  an  older  con- 
temporary and  the  venerated  friend  of  Eusebius  (Hieron., 
adv.  Riif.,  i.  9) :  ''  Scripturas  sanctas  non  ad  legendum 
tantum  sed  et  adhabendum  tribuebat  promptissime,  nee 
solum  viris  sed  et  feminis,  quas  vidisset  lectioni  deditas, 
unde  et  multos  codices  praeparabat,  ut,  cum  necessitas 
poposcisset,  volentibus  largiretur.*"  Pamphilus  thus  had 
Bibles  copied  to  keep  in  stock. 

At  the  close  of  the  period  which  we  are  now  con- 
sidering stand  Arnobius  and  Lactantius;  both  are 
laymen,  and  both  learnt  their  Christianity  from  the 
Holy    Scriptures.      Arnobius    defends   the    Scriptures 

to  make  formal  quotations  from  them  {vide  my  Missionsgeschiehte^ 
i.^  S.  415  :  Numenius  read  and  quoted  from  the  Old  Testament  with 
great  respect,  Amelius  from  the  Gospel  of  St  John).  Celsus  had 
already  been  obliged  to  admit  that  there  were  things  even  to  be 
commended  in  the  sacred  Scriptures  of  the  Christians  and  in  the 
sayings  of  Jesus,  but  he  believed  that  all  these  could  be  explained 
away  by  the  supposition  of  plagiarism  from  Plato.  This  easy  theory 
fell  into  the  background  in  the  succeeding  period ;  the  books  then 
became  only  the  more  "dangerous,"  especially  for  philosophers  who 
believed  in  a  revelation.  Moreover,  Porphyry  himself,  before  he  wrote 
his  great  work  against  the  Christians,  thought  much  more  favourably 
of  some  parts  of  the  Bible,  and  speaks  of  them  with  appreciation 
in  his  book.  Philosophy  from  the  Oracles.  He  had  thus  himself 
experienced  the  attraction  of  the  Bible,  and  had  for  a  time  exerted 
himself  to  promote  mutual  understanding  and  reconciliation.  Is 
not  his  frantic  zeal  against  St  John  and  St  Paul  {vide  the  Philosopher 
in  Macarius  Magnes.)  to  be  explained  from  the  fact  that  he  wished 
at  any  price  to  repress  the  increasing  interest  which  Greeks  were 
beginning  to  feel  in  these  authors  ? 


78    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

from  the  charge,  firstly,  that  they  are  false  and  that 
their  history  is  mere  invention ;  secondly,  that  they 
were  written  by  rude  and  unlearned  men  ("  et  id  circo 
non  facili  auditione  credenda"')  and  swarmed  with 
barbarisms  and  solecisms.^  It  is  possible  that  these 
charges  were  based  upon  the  work  of  Porphyry, 
though  it  is  not  necessary  to  assume  this,  for  the 
Holy  Scriptures  were  already  much  discussed,  and 
the  same  reproaches  were  to  be  heard  from  the 
lips  even  of  members  of  the  Christian  communities. 
The  charge  of  barbaric  style  applied  to  the  Latin 
Bible  in  much  higher  degree  than  to  the  Greek  Bible, 
and  must  have  been  deeply  felt  by  everyone.  From 
the  work  of  Arnobius  we  have  the  impression  that  the 
discussion  of  the  Bible  had  become  a  public  controversy 
in  the  great  world  of  literature,  and  we  gain  the  same 
impression  also  from  Lactantius.  This  could  only  have 
happened  if  the  Bible  was  in  the  hands  of  a  multitude 
of  people.     Lactantius  also  is  compelled  to  deal  with 

*  Arnob.,  i.  55  sq.,  ii.  6  :  "  Ab  indoctis  hominibus  et  rudibus  scripta 
sunt. "  ' '  Barbarismis,  soloecismis  obsitae  sunt  res  vestrae  et  vitiorum 
deformitate  pollutae. "  A  similar  j  udgment  also  prevented  the  youthful 
Augustine  from  entering  deeply  into  the  Scriptures  :  "  incessu  humilis 
.  .  .  visa  mihi  indigna  quam  Tullianae  digriitati  compararem."  Asa 
matter  of  fact,  the  style  was  in  many  places  dreadful ;  many  verses 
gave  no  sense  at  all,  because  the  translator  did  not  himself  understand 
them  :  e.g.  Baruch  ii.  29  ran,  in  helpless  word-for-word  translation  : 
"  Dicens  :  si  non  audieritis  vocis  meae,  si  sonos  magnos  hagminis  iste 
avertatur  in  minima  in  gentibus,  hubi  dispergam  ibi,"  A  correspond- 
ence between  St  Paul  and  Seneca  was  forged,  with  a  view  to  removing 
the  stumbling-blocks  afforded  by  the  style  of  the  Pauline  epistles  in 
the  Latin  version. 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    79 

the  charge  that  the  Bible  was  written  in  a  rude  and 
poor  style.^  Here  again  the  defence  is  that  ''  the  Bible 
is  meant  for  the  common  people."' ^  He  further 
remarks  that  other  works  of  Christian  literature  also 
found  no  favour  among  the  cultured — a  proof  in  itself 
that  they  were  noticed.  "Cyprianus  a  doctis  huius 
saeculi,  quibus  forte  scripta  eius  innotuerunt  derideri 
solet.''  "  Audivi  ego,''  he  continues,  "  quendam 
hominem  sane  disertum,  qui  eum  immutata  una  litera 
'  Coprianum '  vocaret,  quasi  quod  elegans  ingenium  et 
melioribus  rebus  aptum  ad  aniles  fabulas  contulisset. 
quodsi  accidit  hoc  ei  cuius  eloquentia  non  insuavis  est, 
quid  tandem  putemus  accidere  eis  quorum  sermo  ieiunus 
est  et  ingratus?"3  Finally  Lactantius  finds  himself 
forced  to  admit  that  the  Bible  was  written  in  a  poor 
style,  and  therefore  needed  explanation  if  it  was  to  do 
its  work;  there  was,  however,  a  lack  of  experienced 
teachers  fitted  to  deal  with  people  of  culture.^ 

The  Bible   is  difficult   in    places,   the   Bible   is   not 

*  Lactant.,  v.  1. 

*  Loc.  ciU,  "ut  ad  populum." 

3  C/.  also  Epitome  57  (62):  "  Inde  est  quod  scriptis  caelestibus, 
quia  videntur  incompta,  non  facile  credunt,  qui  aut  ipsi  sunt  diserti  aut 
diserta  legere  malunt :  non  quaerunt  vera,  sed  dulcia,  immo  illis  haec 
videntur  verissiraa,  quae  auribus  blandiuntur "  ;  vide  also  vi.  21  : 
"Homines  litterati,  cum  ad  religionem  dei  accesserint,  ab  aliquo 
imperito  doctore  fundati,  minus  credunt." 

*  Loc.  cit. ,  V.  2,  4.  Cyprian  also,  ac3ording  to  Lactantius.  used  the 
wrong  method  in  dealing  with  Demetrianus :  "  dilatis  paulisper 
divinis  lectionibus,"  which  of  course  could  make  no  impression  upon 
the  man  ;  he  ought  to  have  pressed  him  first  with  arguments  appealing 
to  the  intellect. 


80    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

attractive  in  form,  from  the  Bible  heretics  derive  their 
godless  doctrines — nevertheless  it  must  remain  the 
great  public  book  of  Christendom,  to  which  all  men 
must  be  introduced  and  with  which  all  must  make 
themselves  acquainted  by  daily  reading.  This  was  the 
conviction  of  the  Church,  a  conviction  that  nothing 
could  shake.  That  she  acted  according  to  this  con- 
viction is  proved  by  the  persecution  under  Diocletian 
and  his  colleagues,  which  was  at  the  same  time  in 
express  form  a  persecution  of  the  Bible. ^  The  State 
sought  to  destroy  the  Church  by  the  destruction  of  its 
buildings,  its  officials,  and  the  Bible :  in  these  it  saw 
the  foundations  of  the  Church.  This  is  the  best  proof 
of  the  position  which  the  Bible  occupied  among 
Christians,  and  of  the  publicity  which  it  had  already 
gained  in  the  outside  world.^ 

The  copies  of  the  Bible  were  sought  for  at  first  in 
the  Churches  and  demanded  from  the  clergy  ;  indeed,  it 
is  possible  that  an  actual  edict  ran  :  "  ut  libros  deificos 
peterent  (extorquerent)  de  manu  episcoporum  et  preshy- 
terorum'''^    The  object  was  to  destroy  the  Church  as  an 

1  Augustin. ,  Contr.  Cresc,  iii.  26 :  "  persecutio  codicum  tradendorum." 

2  No  alteration  had  taken  place  in  its  position  among  Christians — 
Lessing's  attempt  to  prove  such  an  alteration  in  this  period  remained, 
and  will  always  remain,  abortive.  Fide  the  fragment,  "Von  den 
Traditores,"  JVerke,  Bd.  xvii.  S.  183  ff.  ;  to  the  general  worH  however, 
the  Bible,  of  course,  meant  something  much  more  than  it  did  two 
generations  previously. 

3  Acta  S.  Felic.  ;  Euseb.,  Hist.  Eccl,  viii.  2,  reports  generally:  rhs 
/JL^f  iKKXriffias  €ts  €5a<pos  (t>epiiv,  rhs  5e  ypa<p^s  acpavels  irvpl  yiveadat. 
In  the  Acta  pur g.  Felicis  {Optati  0pp.,  p.  198,  ed.  Ziwsa)  we  read: 
' '  ut  quascumque  scripturas  haberent  Christiani,  incendio  traderent. " 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    81 

organism  in  all  its  elements,  but  for  the  moment  to  leave 
the  laity  and  all  that  belonged  to  them  untouched. 
Accordingly,  strictly  speaking,  only  those  Bibles  came 
into  account  that  belonged  to  the  communities ;  ^  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  however,  especially  in  heathen  eyes, 
were  not  regarded  as  private  books,  and  the  laymen 
who  possessed  such  books,  possessed  in  them  something 
which  was  in  theory  the  property  of  the  religious 
community.  Thus  the  executive  officials  could  here 
proceed  according  to  their  discretion  :  they  could  extend 
their  search  to  the  laity,  or  they  could  confine  them- 
selves to  a  search  among  the  clergy.  It  soon  necessarily 
followed  that  special  attention  was  paid  to  the  houses 
of  the  deacons  and  lectors,  as,  indeed,  we  learn  from  our 
sources  of  information.  In  many  cases  probably  the 
clergy  alone  suffered  from  this  persecution  2  (and  some 
of  them  became  traditores) ;  ^  but  in  other  cases  we 
hear  that  laymen  also  were  compelled  to  give  up  their 


^  Ephraem  Syrus,  Serm.  iii.,  Defide,  thinks  only  of  these  where  he 
speaks  of  the  persecution  against  the  Bible. 

2  The  proconsul  in  Carthage  did  not  wish  to  force  an  entrance  into 
the  home  of  the  bishop,  but  contented  himself  with  searching  the 
Cliurch  {vide  August.,  Brev.  coll.  die  iii.  c.  13). 

2  Not  only  the  Bibles,  but  all  written  documents  (together  with  the 
furniture  of  the  Church),  were  asked  for  ;  indeed,  the  officials  would  not 
have  been  able  to  distinguish  ;  vide  Gesta  apud  Zenophil,  p.  I86{0ptati 
0pp.,  ed.  Ziwsa).  It  may  be  conjectured  that  the  opinion  that  the 
delivery  of  Bibles  to  the  officials  was  a  terrible  crime  was  due  to 
superstitious  ideas  ;  this  may  be  partly  true,  but  loyalty  to  the  faith 
itself  forbade  the  delivery.  Moreover,  even  pious  Christians  of  the 
fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  such  as  Augustine,  and  especially  Optatus  in 
his  seventh  book,  ottered  excuses  for  the  traditores. 

6 


82    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Bibles ;  for  the  object  was  the  destruction  of  all  Bibles, 
and  laymen  were  frequently  left  unmolested  because  it 
was  often  supposed  that  they  had  no  such  books  in 
their  possession.  We  are  not  here  concerned  with 
these  transactions,  though  the  numbers  of  the  Bibles 
for  individual  churches,  and  the  information  concerning 
the  "  Libraries  of  the  Churches,"  is  most  interesting ;  ^ 

^  We  cannot  always  decide  whether  some  of  these  Bibles  were  always 
kept  in  the  houses  of  the  clergy  or  whether  they  were  brought  there  as 
a  temporary  measure.  The  most  important  information  is  to  be  found 
in  the  Gesta  apud  Zenophilum.  The  information  there  given  con- 
cerning the  confiscation  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  community  of  Cirta 
is  unfortunately  of  little  use,  because  we  do  not  learn  anything  of  the 
contents  of  the  thirty-seven  volumes  which  were  confiscated.  Certainly 
they  were  not  complete  Bibles  ;  we  can  only  say  that  the  "codex  unus 
pernimius  major"  may  have  been  either  an  Old  or  a  New  Testament. 
It  is  even  possible  that  the  manuscripts  did  not  all  of  them  contain 
portions  of  the  Bible  ;  some  may  have  contained  liturgical  matter. 
The  account  runs  as  follows  (p.  187  sq.)-.  "Felix  flamen  perpetuus 
curator  reipublicae  dixit :  proferte  scripturas,  quas  habetis,  ut 
praeceptis  imperatorum  et  iussioni  parere  possimus  [the  scene  is  a 
Church  ;  the  furniture  had  been  already  given  up].  Catullinus  protulit 
codicem.  unum  pernimium  maiorem.'"  In  answer  to  the  question 
where  the  other  books  were,  the  deacons  answered  that  they  were  in 
the  possession  of  the  lectors.  '  *  Et  cum  ventum  est  ad  domum  Eugeni 
[lectoris]  ....  protulit  Eugenius  codices  quattuor.^'  ...  "et 
cum  ventum  fuisset  ad  domum  Felicis  sarsoris  [lectoris]  protulit  codices 
quinque,  et  cum  ventum  esset  ad  domum  Victorini,  protulit  codices 
acta,  et  cum  ventum  fuisset  ad  domum  Proiecti,  protulit  codices  V. 
maiores  et  minores  II. ,  et  cum  ad  grammatici  domum  ventum  fuisset. 
.  .  .  Victor  grammaticus  [lector]  obtulit  codices  II.  et  quiniones 
quattuor.  Felix  flamen  perpetuus  curator  reipublicae  Victori  dixit : 
prefer  scripturas  ;  plus  habes.  Victor  grammaticus  dixit :  si  plus 
habuissem,  dedissem.  et  cum  ventum  fuisset  ad  domum  Eutici 
Caesariensis  [lectoris],  Felix  Euticio  dixit :  prefer  scripturas,  quas  habes. 
.  .  .  Euticius  dixit :  non  habeo.  Felix  dixit :  professio  tua  actis 
haeret.  et  cum  ventum  fuisset  ad  domum  Coddeonis  [lectoris],  protulit 
uxor  eius  codices  sex.     Felix  dixit :  quaere,  ne  plus  habeatis,  prefer. 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    83 

not  many,  however,  of  the  accounts  go  into  details, 
though  they  give  abundant  evidence  in  general.  The 
most  interesting  are  the  Acts  of  x\gape,  Chionia,  and 
their  companions.  Chionia  in  answer  to  the  question  : 
"  Have  ye  any  of  the  commentaries,  parchments,  or  books 
of  the  godless  Christians  ? "  replied  :  "  We  have  none  ; 
the  reigning  emperors  have  taken  them  all  away  from  us." 
In  the  case  of  Irene  it  is  proved  that  she  had  secreted 
a  large  number  of  parchments,  books,  lists,  "  codicilli  et 
paginae  scripturarum,"  and  had  declared  that  she  knew 
nothing  of  them.  When  asked  whether  since  then  they 
had  not  read  the  Scriptures  together,  the  women 
answered :  "  No,  we  did  not  dare  to  do  so ;  it  was  the 
greatest  grief  to  us  that  we  could  no  longer  read  them 
by  day  and  night  as  we  ever  were  accustomed  until  last 
year,  when  we  hid  them."  ^ 

Many  of  the  laity  could  console  themselves  for  the 
loss  of  their  Bibles,  for  many  passages  were  fixed 
firmly  in  their  memory.  Eusebius  tells  us  from  his  own 
knowledge  of  a  blind  Egyptian,  John  by  name,  who  was 
banished  to  Palestine,^  that  "  he  possessed  whole  books  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures  not  on  tables  of  stone,  as  the  divine 
Apostle  says,  nor  on  skins  of  beasts  or  on  paper,  which 
moth   and  time  can  devour,  but  ...  in  his  heart,  so 

mulier  respondit :  non  habeo.  Felix  Bovi  servo  publico  dixit :  intra 
et  quaere,  ne  plus  habeat.  servus  publicus  dixit:  quaesivi  et  non 
invent.  Felix  Victorino,  Silvano  et  Caroso  [fossoribus]  dixit :  si  quid 
minus  factum  fuerit,  vos  contingit  periculum." 

^  Optatus  (i.  13)  knows  of  laymen  also  who  were  traditores. 

2  Euseb.,  De  Mart.  Pal,  13. 


84    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

that,  as  from  a  rich  literary  treasure,  he  could,  ever 
as  he  wished,  repeat  now  passages  from  the  Law 
and  the  Prophets,  now  from  the  historical  books, 
now  from  the  Gospels  and  the  Apostolic  epistles.'"* 
In  antiquity  there  was  much  learning  by  heart, 
and  much  also  from  the  Bible  was  committed  to 
memory.  Eusebius  incidentally  informs  us  that 
Christian  children  began  by  learning  the  canticles  of 
the  Bible.i 

In  the  Church  before  the  time  of  Constantine  the 
Bible  had  a  different,  because  much  more  important, 
position  from  that  occupied  by  books  of  revelation 
and  religion  in  the  heathen  cults.  It  was  the  book 
of  faith,  of  discipline,  of  life,  and  of  knowledge  for 
each  and  all,  and  theologians  of  the  school  of 
Origen  regarded  it  as  God's  second  creation,  rank- 
ing with  the  creation  of  the  world.  According  to 
the  principle  of  the  Chtirch,  absolutely  all  her 
members  ought  to  be  "  taught  of  God,"  i.e.  ought 
to  live  in  the  Bible  and  find  there  the  daily  food 
of  their  souls.  It  was  only  the  hard  facts  of  exist- 
ence that  prevented  this  ideal  from  being  realised. 
The  Church  was  never  content  with  reading  the 
Scriptures  to  her  children  at  public  worship,  rather  she 
exhorted  each  and  all — man  and  woman,  small  and 
great — to  read  the  Bible  daily.  Eusebius  desires  that 
even  the  beginner,  who  had  only  just  come  into  close 
touch  with  Christianity,  should  at  once  be  made 
^  Euseb.,  Praepar.  Evang.,  xii.  20. 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    85 

acquainted  with  the  Scriptures.^  In  this  period  the 
Pauline  motto,  "  Faith  comes  from  preaching,"  was 
completed  by  the  other,  "  Faith  comes  from  reading."'* 
Neither  did  the  Christians  in  their  procedure  pay  too 
much  heed  to  the  warning  of  our  Lord  :  "  Give  not 
that  which  is  holy  to  the  dogs,  neither  cast  ye  your 
pearls  before  swine  '" ;  they  wished  rather  to  do  too  much 
than  too  little.  No  doubt  a  powerful  stimulus  was  thus 
given  to  the  extension  of  the  art  of  reading,  and  therein 
of  education.  The  Church  was  compelled  to  lay  stress 
upon  Bible  reading  because,  according  to  her  doctrine, 
souls  could  be  lost  through  want  of  knowledge^"  and  so 
she  became  the  great  elementary  school- mistress  of  the 
Greeks  and  the  Romans.^     And  not  of  these  peoples 

1  Euseb. ,  Praepar.  Evang. ,  xii.  3  :  Hap'  V'"  to^s  /xev  &pTi  (laayo/xeuois 
Koi  TTjf  €|iv  areXeaiv,  uis  h.v  ray  y\)vxo.s  yrjwiois,  air\ov(rTipov  tj  iu  raTs 
dilais  ypa<pais  audyvcacris  wapaSiSoTai  yuero  tov  Selj/  iriffT^veiv  ws  deov 
K6yois  ro7s   ifKpspo/JL^vois  TrapaKe\^vea6ai. 

"  This  is  a  most  important  point  of  difference  from  other  religions. 
In  spite  of  the  inroads  of  mystery  and  sacrament,  the  Christian  religion 
held  fast  to  the  conviction  that  every  Christian  must  know  what  he 
believed,  and  must  therefore  in  some  degree  possess  an  intellectual 
understanding  of  his  religion  ;  vide  Optatus,  vii.  1,  p.  165  :  "  Lex  [the 
Bible]  non  magis  pro  doctrina  quam  pro  futuro  iudicio  scripta  esse 
videtur,  ut  sciat  peccator  quid  pati  possit,  si  minus  iuste  vixerit." 
Thus  the  Christian  Church  approximated  to  the  attitude  of  the 
schools  of  contemporary  religious  philosophy,  as  was  very  soon 
noticed.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  expressed  in  plain  words  the  danger 
of  ignorance  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  gives  the  Creed  as  a 
substitute  ;  vide  infra. 

^  This  was  the  more  important,  seeing  that  in  the  second  and  still 
more  in  the  third  century  not  only  higher  but  also  elementary  educa- 
tion went  terribly  downhill.  Hence  the  increase  in  the  number  of 
those  who  could  not  read. 


86    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

only.  The  Church,  especially  the  Greek  Church — for 
the  Latin  Church  proceeded  otherwise, — pressed  on  to 
translation  of  the  Bible  into  other  tongues,  and  by  thus 
neglecting  her  own  national  prerogative  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  national  literature  among  peoples  that 
hitherto  had  possessed  no  literature,  and  in  some  cases 
were  even  without  the  knowledge  of  writing.  All  this 
came  about  because  the  Greeks  demanded  that  the 
Bible  must  be  read.  The  beginnings  of  the  Coptic 
version  of  the  Bible  fall  already  into  our  period ;  the 
Armenian  and  Gothic  versions  must  have  followed  soon 
afterwards. 

Naturally,  even  so  early  as  this  period  the  Bible,  after 
heathen  fashion,  was  pressed  into  the  service  of  super- 
stition, much  more  frequently,  indeed,  than  the  very 
scanty  evidence  would  imply.  We  learn  incidentally 
that  Julius  Africanus,  in  his  Cestoi,  gave  as  a  receipt 
for  keeping  wine  from  going  sour  that  one  should  place 
in  the  vessel  an  apple  upon  which  had  been  scratched 
the  words  :  "  Taste  and  see  how  gracious  the  Lord  is  '*'' ; 
we  hear  of  verses  from  the  Bible  being  used  as  phylac- 
teries ;  of  exorcisms  by  means  of  words  of  Scripture, 
and  suchlike;  but  we  may  well  conjecture  that  of  a 
great  multitude  of  instances  of  this  kind  only  a  few 
have  come  down  to  us.  But  the  worst  of  all  is  that  even 
a  theologian  such  as  Origen  should  have  sympathised 
with  the  magical  use  of  the  sacred  Word.^     But  such 

1  Vide  supra,  p.  74,  note  2.  I  give  the  passage  in  full  because  of 
its  importance  (Horn.   xx.    1  in  lesu  Nave):    "  Verum  tamen  etiam 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    87 

superstitious  misuse  was  only  to  be  expected  as  a  matter 
of  course  in  a  time  full  of  superstition,  when  men  could 
only    comprehend    sacred    things    as    magical    charms.^ 

illud  admoneo,  non  panim  ex  hoc  ipso  utilitatis  animae  conferri,  quod 
aures  nostras,  licet  obscura  videantur,  penetrant,  si  eniin  creditum 
est  a  gentibus,  quod  quaedam  carmina,  quas  praecantationes  appellant, 
quibus  istud  artis  est,  insusurrantes,  nominibus  quibusdam  compellatis, 
quae  ne  illi  quidem,  qui  invocant,  norunt,  ex  solo  vocis  sono  vel 
sopiunt  serpentes  vel  etiam  de  cavernis  protrahunt  abstrusis.  saepe 
autem  at  in  corporibus  humanis  tumores  vel  fervores  aut  alia 
huiuscemodi  voce  sola  reprimere  dicuntur,  interdum  etiam  animae 
stuporem  quendam  sensus  infligere,  ubi  tamen  Christi  non  restiterit 
fides  :  quanto  magis  totius  praecantationis  et  carminis  validiorera  et 
potentiorem  ducendam  credimus  quamcumque  illam  scripturae  sanctae 
vel  sermonum  vel  nominum  appellationem  ?  sicut  enim  apud  infideles 
contrariae  virtutes,  audientes  ilia  vel  ilia  nomina  in  carminibus  vel 
praecantationibus  adsunt  et  exhibent  famulatum  et  dant  operam  in 
hoc,  ad  quod  invocari  se  ex  illo  vel  ex  illo  nomine  senserint,  .  .  .  eo 
magis  utique  coelestes  virtutes  et  angeli  dei,  qui  nobiscum  sunt, 
videntes  faciem  eius  libenter  et  grate  accipiunt,  si  semper  verba 
scripturae  et  horum  nominum  appellationes  velut  carmina  quaedam  et 
praecantationes  ex  nostro  ore  proraamus.  quia  etsi  nos  non  intelli- 
gimus,  quae  de  ore  prof erimus,  illae  tamen  virtutes,  quae  nobis  adsunt, 
intelligunt  et  velut  carmine  quodani  invitatae  adesse  nobis  et  ferre 
auxilium  delectantur.'^ 

^  If  we  wished  to  be  in  the  fashion  we  should  be  forced  to  speak  of 
this  use  as  the  "  religionsgeschichtlich,"  or  as  that  which  is  "  religions- 
geschichtlich  "  important ;  but  it  is  really  unimportant  and  without 
interest.  The  use  of  the  Bible  which  is  "religionsgeschichtlich" 
important  is  that  wherein  the  Christian  religion  distinguishes  itself 
from  other  religions  in  its  attitude  towards  its  sacred  writings.  Optatus, 
in  his  great  work,  lib.  vii.,  attacks  a  too  exaggerated  veneration  for  the 
book  of  the  Bible  (he  is  of  course  influenced  by  his  desire  to  rehabili- 
tate the  traditores  as  much  as  possible).  He  declares  (c,  i.)  that  the 
real  Bible,  so  to  say,  is  that  which  is  written  in  the  heart,  and  that  that 
which  is  written  on  paper  or  parchment  stands  only  in  the  second  line 
(p.  163)  ;  also  that  the  Law  (the  Bible)  was  not  given  "  ut  ipsa  pro  deo 
coleretur"  (p.  165);  moreover  {loc.  cit.),  that  it  is  not  written  that 
Abraham  heard  the  Scripture  and  believed,  but  that '  *  Abraham  believed 


88    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Yet  the  really  great  and  important  point  was  this,  that 
the  Bible  played  so  tremendous  a  part  as  the  book  for 
faith,  for  morals,  for  inward  and  spiritual  life,  and  that 
men  were  required  to  understand  this  book,  however 
limited  that  understanding  might  well  be.^  If  the 
Church  defined  the  Bible  as  the  collection  of  effata 
divina,  indeed  as  a  collection  of  oracles  ;  if  she  even  used 
the  Bible  for  inquiring  into  the  future  ;  if  in  increasing 
measure  she  tolerated  or  even  encouraged  all  kinds  of 
superstition  in  connection  with  the  Bible  as  with  the 
sacraments,  still  in  the  main  she  sought  in  the  Bible 
something  quite  different  from  what  the  heathen  sought 
in  their  books  of  religion :  she  read  in  it  the  grand 
progress  of  history  from  the  Creation  to  the  turning- 
God,  and  it  was  reckoned  to  him  for  righteousness"  ;  again,  that  man 
was  not  made  for  the  Holy  Scripture,  but  the  Holy  Scripture  for  man 
(p.  166) ;  and  finally,  that  a  man  must  die  for  God :  he  is  not  called  upon 
to  die  for  the  Bible  {loc.  ciL). 

^  Among  the  Latins  this  requirement  during  our  period  still  lies  in 
the  background  (there  were  no  exegetes  before  Victorinus  of  Pettau  to 
afford  guidance)  ;  among  the  Greeks  it  received  the  sharpest  emphasis 
from  Origen.  The  study  of  the  Bible  tvhieh  he  required  of  itself  must 
drive  a  man  into  the  cloister.  '  *  Tu  ergo  si  volueris  filium  tuum  scire 
literas,  quas  liberales  vocant,  scire  grammaticam  vel  rhetoricam  dis- 
ciplinam,  numquid  non  ab  omnibus  eum  vacuum  et  liberum  reddis  1 
numquid  non  omissis  ceteris  huic  uni  studio  dare  operam  facis  ? 
paedagogos,  magistros,  libros,  impensas,  nihil  prorsus  deesse  facis,  quod 
usque  perfectum  propositi  studii  opus  reportet.  quis  nostrum  ita  se  ad 
divinae  legis  studia  convertit  ?  quis  nostrum  ita  operam  dedit  ?  quis 
tanto  studio  ac  labore  divina  quaerit  studia,  quanto  quaesivit  humana  ? 
et  quid  conquerimur,  si,  quod  non  didicimus,  ignoramus  ?  aliqui 
vestrum  ut  recitari  audierint,  quae  leguntur,  statim  discedunt.  nulla 
ex  his,  quae  dicta  sunt,  inquisitio  ad  invicem,  nulla  collatio."  (Horn, 
xii.  inExod.,  2  T.  ix.  p.  143.) 


PERIOD  FROM  IRENAEUS  TO  EUSEBIUS    89 

point  of  the  ages ;  she  read  it  as  the  fundamental 
document  of  redemption  and  salvation  for  all  mankind, 
which  claimed  the  most  devoted  study  and  zealous 
application  of  the  understanding ;  and  she  drew  from 
it  all  power  for  a  holy  and  blissful  life.  And  for  this 
very  reason  she  gave  it  the  greatest  publicity. 

During  the  last  decade  Egypt  has  opened  up  to  us 
fragments  of  the  books  of  the  Bible  in  exemplars  of 
the  third  century.  The  most  comprehensive  and  most 
important  of  these  fragments,  an  almost  complete  copy 
of  Genesis,  lies  in  the  Royal  Library  of  Berlin,  and  will 
be  published  shortly.^  The  circulation  of  the  Bible 
received  a  fresh  impulse  from  Constantine,^  and  con- 
tinued to  increase  after  his  time. 

^  Many  smaller  fragments  have  been  published  by  Grenfell  and  Hunt. 
2  Vide  Euseb.,  Vit.  Constant.,  iv.  36  sq. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    PERIOD    FROM    EUSEBIUS    TO    THEODORET 

At  the  end  of  this  period  Theodoret  (Graec.  affect. 
cur^  V.)  1  writes  as  follows  :  "  All  the  heralds  of  the 
truth,  to  wit  the  Prophets  and  Apostles,  though  un- 
endowed with  the  Greek  gift  of  eloquence,  were  yet  filled 
with  true  wisdom,  brought  to  all  nations  both  Hellenic 
and  barbarian  the  divine  doctrine,  and  filled  all  lands 
and  seas  with  their  writings^  whose  content  is  virtue  and 
piety.  And  now  all  men  having  renounced  the  follies 
of  the  philosophers,  feast  upon  the  doctrines  of  fisher- 
men and  publicans  and  reverence  the  words  of  the 
Tent- maker.  Of  the  Italian  and  Ionic  and  Eleatic 
schools  they  no  longer  know  even  the  names ;  for 
time  has  obliterated  their  memory;  but  of  the 
prophets,  who  lived  1500  years  earlier  than  these, 
they  are  ever  speaking.  Yea  more,  they  know  those 
who  lived  long  before  the  prophets — Abraham  and 
his  children  ;  yea,  men  still  more  ancient  and  famed  for 
their  good  life,  such  as  Abel,  Enoch,  and  Noah.  Of 
the  Seven  Wise  Men    and  their  successors,    who  lived 

1  0pp.,  ed.  Schulze,  T.  iv.  p.  837  sq. 
90 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET   91 

after  the  time  of  the  prophets,  even  Greek -speaking 
people  no  longer  know  the  names.  The  names  of 
Matthew  and  Bartholomew  and  James,  and  indeed  of 
Moses,  David,  and  Isaiah,  and  of  the  other  Apostles  and 
Prophets,  they  know  as  customary  names  for  children, 
even  though  they  may  deride  them  as  barbarous.  .  .  . 
Yet  such  scoffers  are  but  few  in  number ;  they  are 
easily  counted  ;  they  also  lack  Hellenic  eloquence  ;  their 
every  word  manifests  the  barbarian.  .  .  .  Only  tell  me 
— whom  Xenophanes  of  Colophon,  whom  Parmenides 
the  Eleatic,  whom  Protagoras  and  Melissus,  whom 
Pythagoras  or  Anaxagoras,  whom  Speusippus  or 
Xenocrates,  whom  Anaximander  or  Anaximenes,  whom 
Arkesilaus  or  Philolaus  have  left  as  successors  in  their 
schools  ?  Who  stands  (to-day)  at  the  head  of  the  Stoic 
school  ?  Who  champions  the  doctrine  of  the  Stagirite  ? 
Who  governs  according  to  the  Laws  of  Plato  ?  Who 
swears  by  his  Republic?  Ye  can  produce  no  single 
teacher  of  these  doctrines;  while  we  can  point  to  the 
doctrines  of  the  Apostles  and  Prophets  as  now  standing 
in  force  ;  for  all  lands  upon  which  the  sun  shines  are  filled 
with  them ;  and  what  was  once  said  in  the  Hebrew  language 
is  now  translated  not  only  into  Greek  hut  also  into  Latin, 
Egyptian,  Persian,  Indian,  Armenian,  Scythian,  and 
Sauromatian — in  short,  into  the  languages  of  all  nations} 
Plato  the  wise,  who  composed  numerous  works  con- 
cerning  the   immortality    of    the    soul,    was    not    able 

^  Cf.  the  Homilies  of  St  Chrysostom  {0pp.  ^  T.  iii.  p.  71  5j. )  concerning 
the  benefit  of  Bible  reading  ;  Augustine,  Be  Dodrina  Christ.,  ii.  5. 


92    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

to  convince  even  his  own  pupil  Aristotle  ;  our  fishermen, 
publicans,  and  tent-makers  have  convinced  both  Greeks 
as  well  as  Romans  and  Egyptians,  and  in  a  word  all 
nations,  of  the  immortality  and  self-consciousness  of 
the  soul.  .  .  .  And  it  is  not  only  teachers  of  the  Church 
who  know  these  doctrines,  but  also  tent-makers,  smiths, 
wool-workers,  and  other  artisans ;  women  besides,  not 
only  the  educated  but  also  workwomen  and  midwives, 
indeed  even  slaves ;  and  not  only  citizens  but  also 
countrymen  possess  this  knowledge.  Miners,  herdsmen, 
and  gardeners  are  to  be  found  who  speak  of  the  divine 
Trinity  and  of  the  Creation  of  the  world,  and  who 
understand  the  nature  of  man  much  better  than  Aris- 
totle and  Plato ;  moreover,  they  practise  virtue,  they 
avoid  what  is  evil  and  fear  the  coming  Judgment. 
All  this  they  have  learned  from  none  other  than 
men  whom  ye  call  '  Barbarophonoi."  .  .  .  Marvel 
also  at  the  breviloquence  of  the  Divine  Oracles 
and  their  power,  and  learn  the  truth  of  the  Divine 
Doctrine ! " 

The  Bible  has  taken  the  place  of  Greek  literature, 
more  especially  of  the  philosophic  literature ;  the  Bible 
is  translated  into  all  languages !  This  statement  is 
here  proclaimed  by  Theodoret  in  words  which  are 
indeed  most  exaggerated,  and  whose  triumphant  arro- 
gance challenges  criticism,  which  nevertheless  answer 
in  the  main  to  the  facts  of  the  situation  that  had 
been  reached  in  the  reign  of  Theodosius  II.  Private 
Bible    reading    undoubtedly    had    a    gresft    share    in 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET    93 

this  result,  even  though,  as  is  very  probable,  no 
translations  had  been  made  into  Indian,  Scythian, 
and  Sauromatian,  or  at  the  most  only  translations  of 
Church  lections. 

During  this  period  also,  when  the  ancient  Church 
reached  its  zenith  of  energy  and  prosperity,  absolutely 
no  restriction  was  laid  upon  private  Bible  reading ; 
rather  the  duty  was,  if  possible,  still  more  energetically 
commended  and  sharply  emphasised  than  in  the  previous 
century.  The  exhortation  to  Bible  reading  is  un- 
qualified ;  its  benefit  is  regarded  as  absolute  for  every- 
one. Disciplinary  suggestions  in  reference  to  the  right 
choice  of  books  of  the  Bible,  and  complaints  of  its 
misuse  by  self-conceited  laymen,  of  which  we  shall  speak 
later,  are  more  rare,  and  still  less  frequently  do  we  hear 
anything  of  the  opinion  that  a  Christian  can  reach  so 
advanced  a  stage  in  the  spiritual  life  as  to  be  able  to 
dispense  with  Bible  reading. 

It  would  be  altogether  superfluous  to  collect  the 
innumerable  passages  from  the  writings  of  the  Greek 
Fathers  of  the  fourth  century  which  testify  to,  or 
commend,  the  practice  of  private  reading  of  the  Bible. 
Here  the  attitude  of  the  Latin  half  of  Christendom  was 
remarkably  different.  The  Latin  Church  then  and  long 
afterwards  took  no  pains  to  have  the  Bible  translated 
into  the  "barbarian''  tongues — there  never  existed  a 
Punic  Bible,  nor,  for  many  centuries  afterwards,  a 
Frank,  a  Celtic,  an  Anglo-Saxon  Bible.  Neither  did 
this   Church    itself,   either   then    or   in    the   following 


94    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

generations,  really  make  itself  at  home  with  its  own 
Latin  Bible.  Even  Jerome's  immortal  work,  his  trans- 
lation of  the  Bible,  made  little  difference  in  this  respect. 
The  more  cultivated  Latin  could  take  absolutely  no 
pleasure  in  the  vulgar  idiom  of  the  old  translations ; 
moreover,  the  whole  realm  of  thought  and  the  mental 
horizon  of  the  Bible  were  and  remained  for  him  very 
much  less  intelligible  and  more  remote  than  for  the 
Greek,  saturated  as  he  was  with  the  Oriental  spirit. 
Uneducated  Latins  were,  however,  relatively  more 
numerous  than  uneducated  Greeks,  and  the  multitude 
of  those  who  could  not  read  increased  in  spite  of 
all  the  efforts  of  the  Church.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, exhortations  to  Bible  reading  on  the  part 
of  preachers  and  writers  are  much  less  frequent  in  the 
West  than  in  the  East.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that 
Zeno  of  Verona,  for  example,  in  the  large  number  of 
his  sermons  which  we  possess,  never  once,  so  far  as  I 
know,  exhorts  his  hearers  to  read  the  Bible ;  nor  is  it 
otherwise  with  other  preachers.^  The  excuse,  "  I  am 
not  a  monk  and  therefore  need  not  read  the  Bible,"  was 
during  our  period  as  loudly  advanced  in  Antioch  as  in 
Rome ;  but  we  do  not  hear  that  it  was  so  vigorously 
combated  by  the  Western  clergy  as  it  was  by 
St   Chrysostom,  though  even   in  the  West  individual 

^  In  the  extraordinary  propaganda  which  Martin  of  Tours  carried  on 
in  favour  of  Christianity  in  Central  France,  which  was  stni  practically 
heathen,  Bible  reading  evidently  plays  no  part,  although  we  receive 
incidental  testimony  that  he  himself  regularly  read  the  Bible  ( Fita,  26) ; 
he  was  not,  however,  a  Biblical  scholar. 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET   95 

champions  were  not  wanting.  Such  an  one  was 
Sulpicius  Severus,  who  championed  the  cause  of  the 
Latin  Bible  and  its  reading  against  the  fashionable  and 
cultivated  circles  of  Aquitania.^  In  the  preface  to  his 
Chronicles  of  the  Worlds  he  says  that  he  has  extracted 
this  work,  beginning  with  the  Creation  of  the  world, 
from  the  Bible,  not  that  his  readers  should  neglect  the 
Bible,  but  on  the  contrary  that  they  should  be  led  to 
read  it ;  "  for  all  the  mysteries  of  divine  things  can 
onlv  be  drawn  from  the  sources  themselves.'"  ^  Evidently 
the  Bible  had  little  circulation  in  the  class  of  readers  to 
which  Sulpicius  addresses  himself. 

We  might  spare  ourselves  the  trouble  of  collecting 
passages  which  only  bear  witness  to  the  fact  that 
Christians  were  exhorted  to  read  the  Bible  and  that 
the  practice  of  Bible  reading  was  widely  spread  in 
the  Greek  Churches.  Yet  these  passages  often  throw 
interesting  light  upon  the  manner  and  circumstances  of 
Bible  reading  and  contain  information  which  is  histori- 
cally important.  Such  passages  we  now  proceed  to 
collect  and  illustrate. 

^  Their  refinement  and  sensitiveness  in  regard  to  linguistic  bar- 
barisms :  Sulp.  Sev.,  Dial.,  i.  27. 

2  Chron.,  i.  1  :  "  Ea  quae  de  sacris  voluminibus  breviata  digessimus, 
non  ita  legentibus  auctor  accesserira,  ut  praetermissis  his,  unde  derivata 
sunt,  appetantur  :  nisi  cum  ilia  quis  familiariter  noverit,  hie  recognoscat 
quae  ibi  legerit :  etenim  universa  divinarum  rerum  mysteria  non  nisi  ex 
ipsis  fontibus  hauriri  queunt." 


96    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

§  1. — Remarks  concerning  the  Circulation  of  Religious 
Literature,  the  Market  for  Bibles,  Sumptuous 
Copies  of  the  Bible,  the  Keeping  of  Bibles, 
Superstitions  connected  with  the  Bible. 

The   intensive   use  and  the   extensive  circulation  of 
the  Bible  or  of  its    separate    parts   cannot   be   better 
illustrated    than    by    what    Sulpicius    Severus    relates 
concerning  the  circulation  of  his  own  little  book,  the 
Vita   S.    Martini.^      If  this   was    the    fortune   of  the 
dry  tree,  how  much  more  of  the  green  tree  of  Holy 
Scripture  !     Sulpicius  makes  his  interlocutor  Postumius 
speak  as  follows  :  "  Numquam  a  dextera  mea  liber  ister 
discedit,  nam  si  agnoscis,  ecce — et  aperit  librum,  qui 
veste   latebat — en   ipsum  !   hie  mihi,   inquit,   terra   ac 
mari  comes,  hie   in  peregrinatione  tota  socius  et  con- 
solator   fuit.      sed   referam   tibi    sane,   quo    liber   iste 
penetrant,  et  quam  nullus  fere  in  orbe  terrarum  locus 
sit,   ubi  non  materia   tam   felicis  historiae  pervulgata 
teneatur.    primus  eum  Romanae  urbi  vir  studiosissimus 
tui  Paulinus  invexit;   deinde   cum  tota  certatim  urbe 
raperetur,  exultantes  librarios  vidi,  quod  nihil  ab  his 
quaestiosius  haberetur,    siquidem  nihil  illo  promptius, 
nihil  carius  venderetur.     hie  navigationis  meae  cursum 
longe  ante  praegressus,  cum  ad  Africam  veni,  iam  per 
totam  Carthaginem   legebatur.     solus  eum    Cyrenensis 
ille  presbyter  non  habebat,  sed  me  largiente  descripsit. 
nam  quid  ego  de  Alexandria  loquar  ?     ubi  paene  omni- 
1  Dial,  i.  23  (c/.  iii.  17). 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET    97 

bus  magis  quam  tibi  notus  est.  hie  Aegyptum,  Nitriam, 
Thebaidam  ac  tota  Memphitica  regna  transivit.  hunc 
ego  in  eremo  a  quodam  sene  legi  vidi,  etc.''  We  hear 
just  the  same  of  the  extent  of  the  circulation  of  the  Vita 
Antonii  of  Athanasius  ahuost  from  the  very  moment  of 
its  appearance.^  In  Rome  the  publishers  at  once  made 
their  profit  from  Sulpicius'  little  book.  The  books  of 
the  Bible  were  in  increasing  measure  "  a  much  better 
sellincp  article."  We  have  to  thank  Mommsen  for  a 
catalogue  drawn  up  by  a  publisher  of  Bibles  in  a.d.  359,^ 
in  which  the  number  of  stichoi  is  given  for  each  book 
in  order  that  the  purchaser  might  not  be  cheated  by 
unprincipled  booksellers.^  We  cannot  here  discuss 
the  contents  of  this  catalogue,  but  it  is  most  interesting 
that,  together  with  the  books  of  the  Bible,  it  gives  only 
the  works  of  Cyprian,  again  also  with  the  number 
of  stichoi.      This  is  not  accidental.     The  writings  of 

1  This  book  was  already  being  read  in  Treves  about  the  year  380 
(August.,  Confess.,  viii.  6,  15).  Sulpicius  (Z>mZ.,  i.  8)  reports  of  the 
works  of  Jerome:  "  Hieronymus  per  totum  orbem  legitur." 
Theodoret  {Hist.  Eccl.,  i.  20)  suppressed  more  than  200  copies  of 
the  Diatessaron  in  his  diocese,  and  introduced  copies  of  the  separated 
gospels  in  their  place.  This  of  itself  shows  what  a  number  of  copies 
he  had  at  his  disposal.  Optatus  (vii.  1)  speaks  thus  of  the  complete 
Bible  :  "  Librorum  milia  ubique  recitantur  ,  .  .  bibliothecae  refertae 
sunt  libris  ;  nihil  deest  ecclesiae  ;  per  loca  singula  divinum  sonat  ubique 
praeconium  ;  non  silent  ora  lectorum ;  manus  omnium  codicibus 
plenae  sunt."  The  wide  circulation  of  the  Bible  is  for  Augustine 
an  imi)ortant  apologetic  argument ;  vide  Confess.,  vi.  5,  7. 

2  Hermes,  1885,  S.  142-156  ;  1890,  S.  636-638  (printed  in  Ges. 
Schriften,  vii.  S.  283  ff"). 

5  These  omitted  the  stichoi  ("avaritiae  causa")  so  as  to  make 
fancy  prices. 


98    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

Cyprian  enjoyed  in  the  fourth  century  a  quasi-canonical 
reputation  in  the  West,^  and  side  by  side  with  the 
Bible  went  to  form  the  special  religious  and  devotional 
writings  and  the  theological  standard  works  of  Latin 
Christendom,  which  was  so  poor  in  this  branch  of 
literature; 2  their  popularity,  indeed,  was  the  greater 
seeing  that  the  Bible  was  often  so  unintelligible  and  so 
badly  translated.  There  is  no  doubt  that  these  lists 
of  books  were  drawn  up  to  meet  the  demand  of  private 
customers. 

Of  course  it  was  not  only  in  Rome,  but  also  in  every 
other  important  city,  that  the  Bible  and  books  of  the 
Bible  were  on  sale.  For  Antioch  we  have  the  testimony 
of  Chrysostom,  for  Asia  Minor  and  Milan  that  of 
Augustine.  The  former,  in  his  third  homily  on  Lazarus, 
develops  the  thought  that  for  every  Christian  the 
Bible  was  the  same  as  the  tool  to  the  artisan  ;  therefore 
each  Christian  must  buy  a  Bible  and  ought  never  to 
sell  it.^  Even  poverty  is  here  no  excuse;  for  if  the 
poor  man  has  only  a  few  tools  that  by  his  work  he  may 
support  his  life,  then  the  Bible,  as  the  most  important 
tool,  must  always  be  among  them ;  only  the  absolutely 
destitute  are  excused ;  they  must  and  they  can  supply 

1  Vide  my  Liter aturgeschichte,  i.  S.  701  ff.  One  passage  may 
suffice.  St  Jerome,  ep.  107,  12,  writes,  after  he  had  given  an  earnest 
exhortation  to  read  the  Bible :  ' '  Cypriani  opuscula  semper  in  manu 
teneat." 

2  And  yet  only  a  part  of  Cyprian's  treatises  and  epistles  were  really 
suitable  for  edification.  We  thus  see  how  great  was  the  lack  of 
religious  and  devotional  literature  in  the  West. 

3  0pp.,  T.  i.  p.  738. 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET    99 

the  want  of  a  Bible  by  diligent  listening  to  the  lections 
at  public  worship.^  It  is  scandalous  that  in  the 
majority  of  wealthy  homes  no  Bible  is  to  be  found,  or 
only  Bibles  bound  richly  and  written  in  gold  on  the 
finest  parchment,  only  for  show,  which  are  never  read 
but  lie  idle  in  their  cases.^  "  I  do  not  say  this  to 
prevent  you  from  buying  books  ;  rather  I  conmnend  it 
with  all  my  heart."  ^  He  who  cannot  buy  a  complete 
Bible  ought  at  least  to  purchase  a  New  Testament.* 
We  find  St  Augustine  in  Milan  earnestly  studying  the 
Epistles  of  St  Paul,^  which  he  had  purchased,  and  at 
that  time  he  also  possessed  the  Psalms  at  the  very  least. 
He  expressly  states  that  there  was  no  lack  of  Bibles 
offered  for  public  sale.^ 

Poorer  Christians  who  could  write  naturally  copied 
for  themselves  parts  of  the  Bible,  like  Hilarion,  whose 

^  Horn.  xi.  (x.)  in  Joh.,  0pp.,  viii.  p.  63. 

■''St  Jerome  also  speaks  of  these  sumptuously  bound  Bibles  {vidg,  e.g., 
ep.  107,  12  :  "Pro  gemmis  et  serico  divinos  codices  amet,  in  quibus 
non  auri  et  pellis  Babylonicae  pictura,  sed  ad  fidem  placeat  emendata 
et  condita  distinctio";  ep.  22,  32:  "  Inficiuntur  membranae  colore 
purpureo  ;  aurum  liquescit  in  literas,  gemmis  codices  vestiuntur,  et 
nudus  ante  fores  earum  Christus  emoritur").  Such  Bibles  have  come 
down  to  us  —for  example,  the  Gospel  Codex  of  Rossano.  The  production 
of  great  and  sumptuous  volumes  of  the  Bible  could  not  have  begun 
long  before  the  time  of  Constantine.  He  himself  gave  attention  to 
providing  the  Churches  with  fine  copies  of  the  Bible.  Codex 
Sinaiticus  and  Codex  Vaticanus,  dating  from  the  fourth  century,  are 
of  this  kind. 

'  Hom.  xxxii.  (xxxi.)  in  Joh.,  0pp.,  viii.  p.  187  sq. 

•*  Hom.  ix.  in  ep.  Coloas. ,  0pp.,  xi.  p.  391. 

=  Con/ess.,  viii.  6,  14  ;  12,  29. 

"  Sermo  i.  in  Ps.  xxxvi.,  0pp.,  iv.  p.  194. 


100  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

life  is  written  by  St  Jerome,  who  copied  the  Gospels 
for  himself.  They  then  possessed  in  these  copies  a 
property  with  which  they  might  realise  money  in  time 
of  need.^ 

Pious  people,  however,  did  not  part  from  their 
Bibles.  Thus  Hilarion  kept  his  copy  of  the  Gospels 
with  him  until  death ;  ^  thus  Augustine  in  the  hour 
of  deepest  spiritual  conflict  took  his  St  Paul  with 
him  into  the  garden ;  thus  Paulinus  of  Nola  writes 
of  one  Martinianus  who  had  saved  himself  from  a 
shipwreck  : —  ^ 

Dilecte  frater^  accipe  et  lauda  deum 
sanctumque  fratrem  amplectere : 
ut  adlabentem  portui  sensit  ratem 
stridente  harena  litoris^ 

1  Vita  Hilar.,  35,  36,  44  :  "  Hilarion  ascendit  classem  quae  Siciliam 
navigabat .  .  .  venundato  evangeliorum  codice,  quern  manu  sua  adole- 
scens  scripserat,  dare  naulum  disposuit .  .  .  obtulit  nauclero  evangelium 
pro  subvectione  sua  .  .  .  noluit  accipere,  maxime  cum  videret  ilium 
excepto  illo  codice  et  his  quibus  vestitus  erat  amplius  nihil  habere  .  .  . 
Hilarion  LXXX.  aetatis  suae  anno  quasi  testamentum  scripsit  epistolam 
omnes  divitias  Hesychio  derelinquens,  evangelium  et  tunicam  sacceam, 
cucullam  et  palliolum. " 

2  In  reference  to  the  work  of  the  copyists,  compare  Hieron.,  ep.  71, 
5  :  "  Opuscula  mea  ad  describendum  hominibus  tuis  dedi  et  descripta 
vidi  in  chartaceis  codicibus  ac  frequenter  admonui,  ut  conferrent  dili- 
gentius  et  emendarent.  ego  enim  tanta  volumina  prae  frequentia  com- 
meantium  et  peregrinorum  turbis  relegere  non  potui  .  .  .  Unde  si 
paragrammata  repereris  vel  minus  aliqua  descripta  sunt,  quae  sensum 
legentis  impediant,  non  mihi  debes  imputare,  sed  tuis  et  imperitiae 
notariorum  librariorumque  incuriae,  qui  scribunt  non  quod  inveniunt, 
sed  quod  intelligunt,  et  dum  alienos  errores  emendare  nituntur, 
ostendunt  suos. " 

3  Carm.,  xxiv.  v.  265  sq.  {0pp.,  ed.  Hartel,  ii.  p.  215). 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET  101 

abeunte  somno  fit  sui  tandem  memor 

recipitque  sese,  expergitur 

et  adiacentes  pectori  tangit  suo 

epistolas  apostoli 

hunc  in  pavore  codicem  sed  nesciens 

rebus  relictis  sumpserat^ 

vel  ille  codex  spiritu  vivens  sacro 

non  sentienti  adhaeserat. 

Consciously  or  unconsciously,  in  this  rescue  of  the 
volume  of  St  Paul  a  superstitious  motive  may  have  been 
at  work.  We  often  hear  of  sacred  and  devotional  works 
being  worn  on  the  breast ;  ^  Chrysostom  testifies  that 
women  and  children  hung  the  Gospels  around  their  necks 
as  defensive  charms.-  He  does  not  forbid  this  practice, 
but  he  does  not  like  it :  one  ought  rather  to  write  the 
commands  of  the  Gospel  in  one's  memory.  Yet  he  is 
convinced  that  the  mere  sight  of  the  Bible  in  the  home 
promotes  good  resolutions  and  deters  one  from  evil,  and 
that  the  very  touch  of  the  book  of  the  Gospels  of  itself 
awakens  the  heart.^  In  this  period  we  also  meet  with 
the  practice  of  taking  oracles  from  the  Bible — we  may 
not,  perhaps,  reckon  Confess.,  viii.  12,  29,  as  an  instance, 

1  St  Jerome  (ep.  60,  11)  speaks  thus  of  a  favourite  book:  "Ilium 
oculis,  ilium  manibus,  ilium  sinu,  ilium  ore  tenebat "  ;  also  vide 
supra,  p.  96. 

2  Hom.  xix.  ad  populum  Antioch.,  0pp.,  ii.  p.  197  ;  ef.  Hom.  Ixxii. 
in  Matth.,  0pp.,  vii.  p,  703.  Examples  of  psalms  and  texts  from 
the  Bible  written  as  charms  during  our  period  have  come  down  to  us. 
Rabulas  of  Edessa,  in  his  canons  for  priests  and  clergy,  forbids  the 
writing  of  charms.  Vide  Bickell,  Ausgewdhlte  Schriften  der  syrischen 
Kirchcnvdter  (Kempten,  1874),  S.  232. 

•^  Hom.  iii.  de  Lazaro,  0pp.,  i.  p.  739. 


102  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

and  yet  this  moving  story  does  fall  under  this  head. 
The  practice  was  for  the  most  part  quietly  tolerated  by 
the  Church,  but  there  are  many  instances  of  condemna- 
tion. Among  the  canons  for  monks  drawn  up  by 
Rabulas  of  Edessa,  the  nineteenth  runs :  "  No  monk 
on  the  behalf  of  any  person  shall  seek  for  an  oracle 
from  passages  of  the  Bible."'  ^  We  may  also  reckon 
under  the  head  of  superstition  the  fact  that  men  and 
women  believed  that  in  certain  sexual  conditions  they 
ought  not  to  touch  the  Bible. ^  The  author  of  the 
Apostolic  Constitutions^  however,  writes  against  this 
belief.^ 

It  was  felt  that  copies  of  the  Bible  in  the  home 
should  be  treated  with  great  respect,  but  accidents 
which  injured  them  could  not  be  avoided.  With  the 
express  motive  of  palliating  the  crime  of  those  traditores 
who  had  delivered  up  Bibles  to  be  destroyed,  Optatus  * 
describes  the  many  other  different  ways  in  which  private 
copies  of  the  Bible  might  perish :  "  Non  minus  videmus 
neglegentiam  frequenter  operari  quam  necessitas  operata 
est.     nam   si    membranae   aut   libri,    quibus   scriptura 

1  Vide  Bickell,  loc.  cit.,  S.  228. 

2  We  note  here  the  influence  of  the  Jewish  laws  of  purity,  which, 
through  the  medium  of  the  Old  Testament,  began  to  penetrate  into  the 
Churches  during  the  fourth  century. 

^  Const.  App,,  vi.  27  :  E)f  tlvcs  TraparripovfievoL  (pyXdaaovaiv  edi/xa 
'lou5ai'«a,  yovoppoias,  6u€ip(t>^iis,  irXr](riaa-/j.ov5  rovs  Kara  v6pLOV,  Xeyeraxrau 
Tjfuy  el  iv  aXs  &pai5  fl  rj/xepais  eV  ti  tovtwp  inTO/xeivucnv,  TapaTTfpovyrai 
TTpoffev^aadai  t)  evxapicrTias  iuLeTa\afii7y  ^  ^ifiXiov  Qiyelv.  KaX  iay  cvv- 
doivTai,  SrjAoy  ws  rov  ayiov  iryev/xaros  Keyol  Tuyxavovo't*'  rov  del  irapa- 
/xeyoyros  toIs  iriffrois. 

*  Lib.  vii.  1,  p.  166  «2. 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET  103 

legitima  continetur,  in  totuni  debent  inlaesa  servari, 
quasi  non  damnantur  aliqui  neglegentes,  non  est  longe 
tradere  a  male  ponere  aut  male  ferre.  alter  in  domo 
librum  posuit,  quae  domus  incendio  concremata  est : 
damnetur,  qui  neglegenter  posuit,  si  damnandus  est,  qui 
postulandum  librum  territus  dedit.  damnentur  etiam 
illi,  qui  neglectas  membranas  aut  libros  ita  posuerunt, 
ut  eos  domesticae  bestiolae,  hoc  est  mures,  ita  corroserint, 
ut  legi  non  possint.  damnetur  et  ille,  qui  ita  in  domo 
posuit,  ut  nimietate  pluviarum  sic  tecta  aliqua  stillicidia 
deliquarent,  ut  omnia  humore  oblitterata  legi  non 
possint.  damnentur  et  illi,  qui  ferentes  libros  legis 
temerarii  se  rapacibus  undis  fluminum  crediderunt  et  se 
liberari  cupientes  scripturas  in  undis  e  suis  manibus 
dimiserunt.'' 

§  2. — Canonical,  Apocryphal,  and  Heretical 
Writings  in  Private  Use 

The  danger  that  an  absolutely  heretical  book  should 
appear  among  the  writings  to  be  read  at  public  worship 
was  practically  non-existent  during  the  fourth  century, 
but  in  most  Churches  there  was  still  much  to  be 
done  in  defining  the  boundary  between  canonical  and 
apocryphal  books.  In  the  Greek  Church  the  work 
of  definition  went  quietly  and  steadily  forward ;  in  the 
Latin  Church,  however,  it  progressed  by  leaps  and 
bounds.  In  the  fourth  century  the  latter  Church  was 
for  the  first  time  simply  overwhelmed  by  a  flood  of 
pretentious  writings  quite    unknown  to    her  in  earlier 


104  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

days,  and  now  appearing  in  translations.^  These 
writings  caused  the  more  trouble  in  that  they  appeared 
suddenly  and  bore  renowned  names  on  their  title-pages, 
and  still  more  because  men  of  sufficient  learning  to 
deal  adequately  with  these  books  were  too  often  lacking 
in  the  Church  of  the  West.  Under  such  conditions 
the  severest  measures  were  appropriate,  and  they  were 
adopted  more  especially  by  the  Roman  bishops  from 
Damasus  onwards.  In  spite  of  this,  many  more 
apocryphal  works  have  been  preserved  in  the  Latin 
language  than  in  the  Greek ;  for  during  the  fourth 
and  fifth  centuries  the  Greek  Churches  so  "  purged " 
their  libraries  that,  except  the  Bible  and  the  most 
approved  works  of  the  Fathers,  almost  nothing  else 
was  left.  2  In  this  point  also  we  see  that  the  Greek 
Church,  with  the  emperors  and  their  edicts  against 
books  at  its  disposal,^  was  the  leading  Church  in 
the  ancient  days.* 

^  Not  only  from  the  side  of  Manichseism,  but  from  all  sides. 

^  In  the  Churches  of  the  Orient  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word  it 
was  otherwise ;  they  reserved  to  themselves  still  more  apocryphal 
works  than  the  Latin  Churches. 

^  Constantino  prohibited  the  writings  of  Porphyry  and  Arius 
(Socrat.,  Hist.  Eccl.,  i.  9)  ;  after  that  time  there  was  a  continuous 
succession  of  prohibitive  edicts.  Arcadius  ordered  that  the  books 
of  the  Eunomians  should  be  burned  ;  if  anyone  refused  to  deliver 
them  up,  he  was  to  be  punished  with  death  (Theod.,  Cod.,  xvi.  5,  34). 

■*  As  Renter  especially  has  shown  in  his  Augustin-Studien, 
even  Augustine  regarded  the  Greek  Church,  when  compared  with 
the  Latin,  as  the  leading  Church  and  as  setting  the  pattern  for  the 
others.  Under  this  presupposition  the  development  of  the  authority 
of  Rome  hrst  appears  in  its  proper  light.  Rome  was  not  the  East — 
that  is,  the  decisive  authority — but  Rome  was  Rome. 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET  105 

In  regard  to  private  reading,  tlie  strict  rule  generally 
prevailed  which  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  formulates  in  the 
words:  "Nothing  that  is  not  read  in  the  Churches 
should  be  read  privatim:'^  Seeing  that  not  only 
he,  but  also  many  other  Fathers  of  the  Eastern 
and  Western  Churches,  thought  it  necessary,  whether 
in  their  catechetical  instructions  or  elsewhere,  to 
publish  lists  of  the  canonical  books  name  by  name, 
and  then  to  exclude  apocryphal  books  either  in 
general  or  with  mention  of  their  names,  we  conclude 
that  this  procedure  can  only  imply  that  the  practice 
of  private  reading  was  widely  spread.  As  the  practice 
prevailed  and  was  furthered  by  both  theologians 
and  bishops  with  all  the  means  in  their  power,  it 
necessarily  followed  that  the  laity  must  receive  more 
accurate  information  concerning  the  number  and  the 
titles  of  the  canonical  books.  It  would  lead  us 
much  too  far  were  we  to  give  all  the  passages 
where  such  information  is  given ;  these  are  quoted 
in  abundance  and  in  convenient  form  in  the  greater 
works  on  the  history  of  the  Canon  (especially  that 
of  Zahn).  Here  we  would  only  draw  attention  to 
the  fact  that  these  lists  also  applied  to  the  private 
reading  of  laymen  and  monks.  St  Basil  repeats 
St  Cyril's  rule  when  he  says :  "  The  monk  must 
read  the    genuine    books    of   Holy  Scripture,  but    not 

^  Catech.,  iv.  36  (ed.  Reischl) :  "Oa-av  /xiv  iv  iKKXricriais  jxt]  avayivu)- 
ffKirai,  ravra  /ut/Sc  Kara  aravrhy  avayivwaKf  ;  cf.  C.  33  :  Kai  fioi  /xTjStf  riv 
OLTTOKpixpuy  avayiyu(XKi. 


106  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

the  apocryphal  books.'"  ^  "  Deceive  not  thy  soul  with 
strange  books,"  is  the  warning  of  Gregory  of  Nazianzen.^ 
"  Avoid  all  apocryphal  books,""  writes  Jerome.^ 

Here  and  there,  indeed,  people  spoke  as  if  a  man  had 
need  of  nothing  but  his  Bible,  and  ought  to  read 
nothing  else,  so  that  the  ordinance  of  Julian,  that 
Christians  were  to  have  no  dealings  with  Hellenic 
literature  but  were  to  read  their  Matthew,  seemed  to 
meet  their  own  wishes.  But  as  in  our  period  no 
formal  ordinance  of  the  Church  forbidding  Christians 
to  read  Greek  literature  was  ever  issued,  so  Christian 
theologians  did  not  even  think  of  giving  up  their 
reading  of  this  literature,*  and  they  felt  Julian's  pro- 
hibitive edict  as  a  heavy  blow,^  even  though  some  acted 
as  if  it  did  not  affect  them,  because  the  Bible  was  all- 
sufficient.  Of  course  the  situation  was  not  clearly 
defined,  and  at  any  time  it  might  be  objected  against 
a  teacher  that  he  devoted  too  much  attention  to,  or 
that  he  even  noticed,  heathen  authors.     We  know  what 

^  Sermo  Be  asc.  discipL,  1  T.  ii.  p.  212  (Gamier). 

2  Carm.,  xxxiii.,  T.  ii.  p.  98. 

3  Ep.  107,  12:  "Caveat  omnia  apocrypha " ;  ef.  Augustin.,  De 
doctrina  Chr. ,  ii.  8  sq. 

*  Least  of  all  those  of  the  school  of  Origen.  Compare  how  broad- 
mindedly  Basil  in  his  twentieth  oration  treats  the  question  how  young 
people  could  read  heathen  authors  with  profit.  It  is  to  him  self- 
evident  {vide  c.  2)  that  the  reading  of  good  heathen  books  must 
precede  the  study  of  the  Bible. 

^  Cf. ,  also,  the  very  pertinent  question  he  addressed  to  the  Christians 
(Kara  Xpiariat'oiv,  p.  204,  ed.  Neumann)  :  Tov  x'*P'*'  ^M^^s  roov  trap' 
"EWrjai  irapicrdieTe  ixadr]pLdTb>v,  etirep  avrdpKT]S  vfuv  iaTiv  7)  rwy  vfHTepav 
ypa<t>wv  avdyvdocris  ;  kuitoi  Kpi^rroy  iKsiyuy  iXpynv  rovs  avdpdiirovs  ^  t^s 
T«v  iepodvTwy  iSatSris. 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET  107 

happened  in  the  case  of  Jerome  :  how  he  wished  to  with- 
draw himself  from  the  ancient  literature,  and  yet  found 
that  he  could  not  give  up  the  old  authors,  and  how  he 
was  reproached  by  others,  above  all  by  his  former  friend 
Rufinus.    He  was,  of  course,  in  a  very  awkward  position  ; 
for  he  was  a  monk,  and  as  a  monk  he  was  altogether 
restricted  to  the  reading  of  Holy  Scripture— monkish 
decorum  at  that  time  required  this  ;  and  yet  not  only 
his  scientific  mind,  but  also  a  disposition  whose  innate 
worldliness  was  kept  in  suppression, demanded  other  food. 
Nor  could  he  refrain  from  interlarding  his  discourses 
with  such  expressions  as  "my  Virgil,''  "my  Horace,'' 
"  my  Cicero,"  and  from  showing  how  vain  he  was  of  his 
learning;  and  thus  he  reaped  the  just  recompense  of 
blame  and  hostility.     Rufinus  in  particular  reproaches 
him   for   making    a   parade   of  long   quotations   from 
classical  authors  even  before  matrons  and  young  women, 
for  whom  the  Bible  alone  ought  to  have  been  the  sole 
source   of   edification. ^     Still,  profane  literature  fared 
better  than  heretical  writings."- 

In  increasing  measure  apocryphal  books,  even  though 
they  were  innocent,  indeed  even  though  they  were 
edifying,    met   with   the   same   treatment   as  heretical 

1  Cf.  Book  ii.  of  the  Invectives  of  Rufinus  ;  also  Hierou.,  ep.  22,  29. 
30  ;  70,  2. 

2  With  the  prohibition  of  the  Thalia  of  Arius  by  the  Xicene  Council 
begins  the  long  series  of  ecclesiastical  edicts  against  heretical  writings. 
In  turn  the  books  of  Origen,  Nestorius,  Eutyches,  and  others  were 
forbidden.  Since  400  a.d.  both  Church  and  State  waged  a  war  of 
extermination  against  the  Gnostic  literature,  which  had  long  ago  been 
rejected. 


108  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

books.  1  Laymen  and  monks  were  strictly  warned  to 
refrain  from  them  in  their  private  reading.  But  at 
the  end  of  the  fourth  century  there  appeared  in  the 
Spanish  Church  a  man,  namely  Priscillian,  who  con- 
tended with  all  his  might  for  the  right  of  reading  good 
(that  is,  prophetical)  apocryphal  books  (of  the  Old 
Testament).  His  chief  argument  was  that  even  the 
Apostles  had  read  these  books,  and  with  the  greatest 
industry  and  acuteness  he  collected  abundant  evidence 
in  support  of  his  statement.^  His  opponents  energetic- 
ally upheld  the  principle  of  the  sufficiency  of  the 
canonical  Scriptures :  "  plus  legisse  peccare  est.''  He 
disputed  this  sufficiency  :  ^  from  an  historical  point  of 
view  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  required  to  be 
completed  from  other  prophetical  writings,  such  as 
Enoch,  the  apocryphal  books  of  Ezra,  etc.  (p.  47). 
"  Si  quaero,''  he  writes  (p.  51),  "  quod  Christiani  hominis 
est,  si  quod  ecclesiasticae  dispositionis,  si  quod  dei 
Christi  est,  in  his  invenio  qui  deum  praedicant,  in  his 
invenio  qui  profetant.  non  est  timor,  fides  est,  quod 
diligimus   meliora   et  deteriora  respuimus,  unum  intei 

^  The  apocryphal  writings  accordingly  met  with  the  same  fortune  as 
the  schismatical  sects. 

^  Vide  his  Treatise  ill,  {Liber  de  fide  et  apocryphis),  p.  44  sq.,  ed. 
Schepps.  Priscillian,  indeed,  concealed  behind  his  demand  that  free 
reading  of  the  apocrypha  should  be  allowed  all  kinds  of  peculiar 
dogmatic  ideas  ;  but  he  would  not  have  anything  to  do  with  the 
"  stulta  haereticorum  dogmata." 

3  He  never  disputed  the  unique  importance  of  Holy  Scripture ; 
vide  p.  52  :  "  Facile  natura  hominum  obligata  saeculo  fidem  perderet 
si  ad  praedicationem  divini  nominis  scripturarum  testimonia  non 
haberet." 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET  109 

ista  servantes,  ut — qiioniam  in  huiusmodi  libris,  quos 
extra  caiionicorum  libroram  numeriim  ad  legendi 
laboreni  diligentia  retentabat  atque  ad  conprobanda 
ea  quae  scripta  in  canone  legimus  adsumpti  sunt, 
haereticorum  in  pleraque  sensus  invadens  pugnam 
catholicis  parans  falsare  maluit  quam  tenere — illam 
apostolicam  feramus  iure  sen  tent  iam,  omnem  spiritum 
qui  negat  Jesuni  de  deo  non  esse  et  omnem  spiritum 
qui  confitetur  Christum  Jesum  de  deo  esse,  sicut  scriptum 
est :  nemo  enim  dicit  in  spiritu  sancto  anathema  Jesu 
et  nemo  nisi  in  spiritu  sancto  loquitur  dominum  Jesum." 
Therefore  he  continues  (p.  52)  :  "  Qualiter  pauca  ex  his 
[apocryphis  prophetarum]  legentes  culpabiles  sumus, 
cum  magis  ob  hoc  rei  sumus,  quod  omnia  quae  de  deo 
sunt  profetata  non  legimus  ?  non  dubito  autem  quem- 
quam  ex  his  qui  calumnias  potius  quam  fidem  diligunt 
esse  dicturum  :  ultra  nihil  quaeras  !  sufficit  te  legere 
quod  in  canone  scriptum  est.  cuius  quidem  verbis 
facile  ingenio  humanae  naturae  quae  otium  potius 
quam  laborem  requirit  adsurgerem,  nisi  me  Lucae 
evangelistae  testimonium  perurgeret  dicentis  in  actibus 
apostolorum  :  '  at  discipuli  pariter  conferebant  inter  se 
scripturas,  si  ita  esset,'  quemadmodum  locutus  fuerat 
ad  eos  Paulus,  et  ea  quorum  cognitionem  volo  testimo- 
nium prophetiae  in  canone  accepisse  cognosco.  quamvis 
enim  crimen  sit  apostolicis  non  credidisse  sermonibus, 
non  est  tamen  damnabilis  culpae  firmamentum  fidei 
scriptorum  probatione  construere  et  nihil  in  quo  nos 
infirmes   redarguitio   diaboli    faciat    reservare.      potuit 


110  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

enim  sermo  divinus,  quoniam  ipsius  erat  omne  quod 
dixerat,  tamquam  ab  se  loquens  non  scriptum  ab  alio 
dicere,  sed  ex  se  ipse  proferre ;  dicens  autem  scriptum 
esse,  necessaria  proponens  nobis  legendi  sollicitudinem, 
et  suam  de  quo  profetatum  fuerat  gloriam  et  illius  qui 
profetaverat  debitam  posteritati  gratiam  non  omisit. 
ergo  certe  inter  utrosque  utrisque  debitor  sum,  ut  et 
ilium  qui  ad  memoriam  divinam  profetaverit  legam  et 
deo  credam.  quis  enim  non  delectetur  Christum  ante 
saecula  non  a  paucis,  sed  ab  omnibus  profetatum  ? " 

I  have  given  these  quotations  in  full  because  the  two 
principles  for  which  Priscillian  contended  are  of  the 
highest  importance :  (1)  Prophecy  extends  beyond  the 
circle  of  canonical  Scripture ;  (2)  the  circle  of  the 
canonical  books  and  that  of  books  to  be  read  are  not 
coincident.^  But  he  in  vain  set  himself  to  oppose 
a  development  which  had  already  almost  reached 
maturity.^     In    itself  it    was   no   great   loss   that   the 

^  In  reference  to  this  point  Priscillian  indeed  struck  the  note  :  ' '  Ubi 
libertas,  ibi  Christus  "  (p.  55). 

2  Origen  (Prolog,  in  Cantic.  Cant.,  T.  xiv.  p.  325)  had  already 
written  as  follows:  "  Apocryphae  :  pro  eo,  quod  multa  in  iis  corrupts 
et  contra  Mem  veram  inveniuntur  a  maioribus  tradita,  non  placuit  iis 
dari  locum  nee  admitti  ad  auctoritatem.  supra  nos  est  pronuntiare  de 
talibus,  illud  tamen  palam  est,  multa  vel  ab  apostolis  vel  ab  evangelistis 
exempla  esse  prolata  et  Novo  Testamento  inserta,  quae  in  his  scripturis, 
quas  canonicas  habemus,  nunquam  legimus,  in  apocryphis  tamen  in- 
veniuntur et  evidenter  ex  ipsis  ostenduntur  assumpta.  sed  ne  sic  quidem 
locus  apocryphis  dandus  est,  non  enim  transeundi  sunt  termini  quos 
statuerunt  patres  nostri.  potuit  enim  fieri,  ut  apostoli  vel  evangelistae 
sancto  spiritu  repleti  sciverint,  quid  assuraendum  ex  illis  esset  scripturis 
quidve  refutandum  ;  nobis  autem  non  est  absque  periculo  aliquid  tale 
praesumere,  quibus  non  est  tanta  spiritus  abundantia." 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET  111 

"  Apocrypha  "  gradually  vanished  from  private  reading, 
even  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas,  which  had  for  a  long 
period  possessed  important  patrons/  and  the  Apoca- 
lypse of  Enoch,  for  the  rejection  of  which  from  the 
canon  Tertullian  once  was  inclined  to  blame  the  Jews 
in  their  hostility  to  Christ.^  In  the  interests  of  freedom, 
however,  it  is  to  be  deplored  that  the  sphere  of  private 
reading  became  ever  more  and  more  restricted.^  More- 
over, with  the  disappearance  of  the  middle  term  which 
was  afforded  in  the  apocryphal  prophetical  writings,  the 

^  And  Hermas  never  quite  disappeared  in  the  West,  as  is  shown  by 
the  number  of  manuscripts  which  exist. 

^  "  Cum  Enoch  scriptura  etiam  de  domino  praedicarit,  a  nobis  quidem 
nihil  omnino  reiciendum  est  quod  pertineat  ad  nos.  et  legimus  omnem 
scripturam  aedificationi  habilem  divinitus  inspirari.  a  ludaeis  potest 
iam  videri  propterea  reiecta,  sicut  et  cetera  fere  quae  Christum  sonant " 
{De  Cultu.  Fern.,  i.  3).  Priscilliau  may  have  known  of  his  precursor 
(c/.  also  Tertullian's  further  observations). 

'  Sulpicius  Severus  {Dial.,  i.  6  sq.)  informs  us  of  a  reaction  against 
the  prohibition  of  the  books  of  Origen  (by  an  Alexandrian  synod  of  the 
year  399).  Sulpicius  describes  this  reaction  as  if  the  monks  had  re- 
volted against  the  bishops  ;  but  this  belongs  to  the  tendency  of  his 
work  :  really  the  monks  stood  some  on  one  side,  some  on  the  other. 
The  champions  of  Origen  asserted  that  he  was  a  "  tractator  scripturarum 
sacrarum  peritissimus,"  that  he  was  not  responsible  for  the  falsifications 
of  his  books,  moreover  that  readers  could  easily  distinguish  the  false  from 
the  true.  The  opponents  retorted  :  ' '  Recte  etiam  universa  cum  pravis 
et  cum  ipso  auctore  damnantur,  qicia  satis  superque  sujicerent  libri  quos 
ecclesia  recepisset ;  respuendam  esse  penitus  lectionem,  quae  plus  esset 
nocitura  insipientibus  quam  profutura  sapientibus. "  Sulpicius,  more- 
over, expresses  his  disapproval  that,  because  the  authority  of  the  bishops 
did  not  suffice,  the  Prefect  was  summoned  to  their  assistance  "  scaevo 
exemplo  ad  regendam  ecclesiae  disciplinam. "  St  Jerome  (ep.  119,  11) 
tells  us  that  he  read  heretical  writings  that  he  might  pick  out  what 
was  good  in  them  ;  so  also  Theophilus  of  Alexandria  (Socrat. ,  Hist.  Eccl. , 
vi.  15).  But  even  as  early  as  the  fifth  century  this  excuse  was  no 
longer  allowed  to  pass. 


112  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

canonical  books  could  not  but  appear  more  and  more 
out  of  touch  with  human  history  and  all  earthly 
conditions. 

§  3. — Varieties  in  the  Practice  of  Private 
Bible  Reading 

In  this  period  also  it  was  the  hearing  the  Bible  read 
aloud  that  continued  to  give  the  greatest  impetus  to 
the  practice  of  Bible  reading.  Besides  the  lections  in 
the  principal  service  of  Divine  worship,  there  were  the 
lections  in  subsidiary  services,  in  family  worship,^  and 
in  private  Bible  classes.  These  classes  were  specially 
commended  by  St  Chrysostom  and  other  public  teachers.^ 
We  learn  incidentally  that  the  libraries  which  were 
attached  to  many  churches,  and  were  placed  in  separate 
outbuildings,  were  also  accessible  to  laymen,  who  could 
here  either  read  the  Bible  or  hear  it  read.^ 

^  Common  oratio  and  lectio— hoth.  always  together — in  the  family 
circle  are  presupposed  by  Chrysostom  and  other  Fathers. 

2  Chrysostom,  Hom.  vi,  in  Genes.,  T,  iv.  p.  48  :  a  man  ought  to  call 
his  neighbours  together  and  to  read  the  Bible  with  them. 

^  Vide  Paulin.  of  Nola,  ep.  32  (description  of  the  church  of  Nola),  12  : 
'  *  Totum  vero  extra  concham  basilicae  spatium  alto  et  lacunato  culmine 
geminis  utrimque  porticibus  dilatatur,  quibus  duplex  per  singulos  arcus 
columnarum  ordo  dirigitur.  cubicula  intra  porticus  quaterna  longis 
basilicae  lateribus  inserta  secretis  orantium  vel  in  lege  domini  meditan- 
tium,  etc."  ;  c/.  16  :  "  In  secretariis  vero  duobus,  quae  supra  dixi  circa 
absidam  esse,  hi  versus  indicant  officia  singulorum. "     A  dextra  abside  : 

Hie  locus  est,  veneranda  penus  qua  conditur  et  qua 
Promitur  alma  sacri  pompa  ministerii. 

A  sinistra  eiusdem : 

Si  quem  sancta  tenet  meditandi  in  lege  voluntas 
Hie  poterit  residens  sacris  intendere  libris." 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TOTHEODORET  113 

The  Church  was  ever  most  anxious  that  the  Bible 
should  be  open  and  accessible  even  to  the  heathen  ;  ^ 
for  she  had  again  and  again  learned  by  experience  that 
the  Bible  was  her  best  missionary.  The  conversions 
of  Hilary  2  and  Victorinus  in  Rome^  were  notable 
examples ;  these  men  had  been  led  to  the  Church  by 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  Of  course  the  Old  Testament, 
if  it  was  read  without  guidance,  presented  very  great 
difficulties :  ^  many  stories  and  sayings  in  the  Gospel 
appeared  at  first  childish,  the  theological  arguments 
of  the  epistles  were  often  unintelligible,  and  the  style 
of  most    of  the  books  was  not  very  attractive.^     Yet 

^  Naturally,  the  New  Testament  was  also  given  to  every  Jew  who 
wished  to  read  it  ;  vide,  e.g.,  Epiph.,  30,  11. 

2  De  Trinit.,  i.  5,  10. 

2  Augustin.,  Confess.,  viii.  2,  4. 

*  How  many,  like  Augustine,  may  have  been  led  by  the  Old  Testament 
to  Manichffiism  instead  of  to  the  Church  !  Among  the  Fathers  of  the 
fourth  century,  St  Ambrose,  with  his  practical  mind,  points  out  most 
clearly  the  dangers  of  Bible  reading  (without  guidance  or  with  false 
guidance);  vide,  e.g.,  De  Paradiso,  58  (i.  p.  318,  Schenkl) :  "Gentilis, 
si  quis  scripturas  accipiat,  legit:  'oculum  pro  oculo,  etc.,'  legit 
etiam  :  'si  scandalizaverit  te  dextera  tua  abscide  illam,'  non  intelli- 
git  sensum  non  advertit  divini  sermonis  arcana,  peius  labitur  quam  si 
non  legisset."  Augustine  {De  Cateeh.  Bud.,  8)  says  that  on  the 
authority  of  canonical  Scripture,  which  certainly  contains  the  purest 
truth,  many  have  introduced  a  mass  of  destructive  doctrines  ;  but  he 
charitably  adds  that  one  must  pardon  the  human  weakness  of  these 
men  if  they  (at  least)  afterwards  show  themselves  accessible  to 
instruction. 

•^  There  was  no  cessation  of  the  efforts  to  defend,  or  rather  to  excuse^ 
the  style  of  the  Bible,  to  explain  its  lack  of  adornment,  and  to  make 
for  it  a  virtue  out  of  necessity.  From  Eusebius  up  to  Theodoret  {Graec. 
cur.  affect),  pertinent  evidence  lies  before  us.  The  arguments  are 
always  the  same  as  those  which  we  have  already  found  in  the  earlier 
Fathers :  the  Holy  Spirit  must  necessarily  avoid  worldly  rhetoric  and 


114  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

the  Church  gladly  accepted  the  scoffing  and  the  mis- 
understandings as  part  of  her  bargain ;  for  she  knew 
that  a  book  like  Genesis,  that  religious  poems  like  the 
Psalms,  and  that  the  profound  thought  of  the  first 
chapter  of  St  John  and  of  many  other  passages  in  the 
apostolic  writings  would  as  a  rule  triumphantly  over- 
come all  difficulties  and  objections.  St  Augustine 
expressly  states  that  educated  men  who  gave  in  their 
names  as  catechumens  had  for  the  most  part  a  con- 
siderable knowledge  of  the    Holy  Scriptures,  and  that 

fine  speaking ;  He  must  speak  simply  and  so  as  to  be  intelligible  to 
all ;  behind  the  obscurities  there  lie  grand  mysteries  ;  what  the  words 
lack  in  adornment  is  compensated  for  by  their  truth  and  power ;  etc. 
(Hieron.,  ep.  48  [49],  4  :  "Eloquentiam  quam  pro  Christo  in  Cicerone 
contemnis,  in  parvulis  ne  requiras.  ecclesiastica  interpretatio  etiamsi 
habet  eloquii  venustatem,  dissimulare  earn  debet  et  fugere,  ut  non 
otiosis  philosophorum  scholis  paucisque  discipulis,  sed  universo  loquatur 
hominum  generi.")  Nevertheless,  here  and  there  attempts  were  made 
to  replace  in  paraphrasing,  if  not  in  the  text  itself,  a  vulgar  word  by 
one  more  refined,  and  an  obscure  sentence  by  one  that  was  clearer  (as 
St  Luke  had  done  with  St  Mark).  But  it  was  necessary  to  be 
careful.  Socrates  {Hist.  Eecl.,  i.  12)  tells  us  that  Triphyllius,  when 
preaching  before  a  Cyprian  synod,  referred  to  the  story  of  the  Healing 
of  the  Paralytic  and  used  the  word  <TKi^^.^Tovs  instead  of  the  vulgar 
word  Kpa^fiarov.  His  colleague  the  Bishop  Spyridion  at  once 
rebuked  him  :  *• '  Art  thou  perchance  better  than  He  who  spoke  the 
word  Kpi^^arov  because  thou  art  ashamed  to  use  such  words  ? " 
Augustine  says  {De  Catech.  Eud.y  9)  that  for  God's  ears  there  is  no 
other  voice  than  the  loving  devotion  of  the  heart ;  He  pays  no  heed 
to  mistakes  in  language  ;  it  is  not  a  question  of  "  bona  dictio"  but  of 
"  benedictio"  ;  scotting  is  quite  misplaced  if  here  and  there  officers  and 
ministers  of  the  Church  pray  to  God  with  barbarous  expressions  or  in 
false  syntax,  or  do  not  understand  their  own  words  and  pronounce 
them  wrongly.  "I  do  not  say  that  these  things  should  not  be 
corrected ;  for  the  people  must  say  Amen  to  what  they  clearly  under- 
staud  ;  but  they  must  be  endured  with  charity." 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET  115 

in  their  case  the  only  requisite  was  admission  to  the 
sacraments.  "  If  they  come  from  the  schools  of  the 
grammarians  and  rhetoricians  they  must  be  directed 
to  listen  attentively  to  the  Bible":  "  ne  sordeat  eis 
solidum  eloquium."'  ^ 

The  Bible  appeared,  and  is  often  so  described  by 
the  Fathers,  as  God's  great  proclamation  to  mankind, 
as  the  open  letter  directed  to  every  man  which  must 
not  only  be  read  but  earnestly  studied  by  everyone. 
Therefore  no  one  can  do  too  much  in  private  reading. 
Every  blessing  for  the  understanding  and  for  the  life 
is  promised  as  the  fruit  of  Bible  reading,  and  especially 
of  private  Bible  reading.^  The  Bible  is  the  "  treasury "" 
of  salvation  ;    it   affords  the    vitalia  and  the  pabulum 

^  De  Catech.  Eiut ,  8  sq.  Here  and  elsewhere  we  also  learn  that  not 
only  the  Bible  but  sometimes  other  Christian  writings  ripened  with 
some  the  determination  to  become  Christians:  "  If  it  is  seen  that  (an 
educated  person  who  has  become  a  catechumen)  has  been  moved 
thereto  by  the  reading  whether  of  the  canonical  Scriptures  or  of  some 
other  good  books,  then  at  the  beginning  of  instruction  one  can  say 
something  in  praise  of  those  books.  .  .  .  Further,  one  must  also 
endeavour  to  make  the  catechumen  tell  what  author  he  studies  most 
and  what  are  his  favourite  works,  and  which  of  them  has  brought  him 
to  make  up  his  mind  to  join  the  Church.  When  we  have  gained  this 
information,  if  we  ourselves  know  these  books,  or  at  least  understand, 
from  the  good  report  they  enjoy  in  the  Church,  that  they  proceed 
from  the  pen  of  some  reputable  Catholic,  we  must  express  our  joyful 
approval  ;  if,  however,  he  has  fallen  upon  heretical  books  and  has 
adopted  from  them  heretical  views  in  the  ignorant  belief  that  they  are 
Catholic,  then,  etc," 

*  The  Emperor  Julian,  it  is  true,  found  that  no  one  was  the  better 
for  reading  the  Bible  ;  vide  Karh  Xpitrriavcov,  p.  206  :  "The  following 
will  be  a  proof.  Choose  from  among  yourselves  lads,  and  let  them  be 
brought  up  on  your  literature :  if  when  they  become  men  they  prove 
more  useful  as  slaves,  account  me  a  mere  babbler  and  cynic." 


116  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

of  the  soul ;  it  is  succus  et  esca  v'ltae ;  it  grips,  it  awakens, 

it  elevates  the  inward  man  ;   it  is  the  greatest  shield 

against  sin  ;    it  teaches   us  to   speak   good   words  ;   it 

arms  the  reader  against  the  assaults  of  heresy ;  it  frees 

the  soul  from  the  curse  of  ignorance ;  it  attracts  the 

heart    from   earthly   cares ;    yea,   even    in    this   life   it 

makes  the   light  of  God  shine   upon  the  soul  of  the 

reader,  and  after  it  has  made  him  a  man  by  means  of 

the  Old  Testament,  it  makes  him  an  angel  by  means 

of  the  New  Testament.     The  last   figure  comes  from 

St  Chrysostom,^  who  indeed  devoted  a  homily,  "  Quod 

utilis  sit  lectio  scripturarum,"^  to  this  special  subject. 

He,  the  great  man  of  the  Bible  of  the  fourth  century, 

loved  to  dwell  upon  the  first  Psalm  in  connection  with 

continuous  Bible  reading  ;  he  teaches  that  the  Christian 

should   be    like   the   tree   planted   by    the   streams    of 

water,  so   that    "  day  and  night  '**  he   might  draw  his 

nourishment  from  the  Bible.     This  "  day  and  night " 

is  also  repeated  by  other  Fathers,  and  the  Ethiopian 

eunuch    who    read  even    on    his  journey   is  again  and 

again  quoted  as  an  example  and  model  for  Christians. 

Where  monks  and  nuns  are  mentioned,  this  "  semper  " 

receives    special  emphasis,  and  St   Jerome  thinks  that 

he  is  giving  his  friend  the  highest  possible  praise  when 

he   says    of  him :    "  Lectione   adsidua   et    meditatione 

diuturna  pectus  suum  bibliothecam  fecerat  Christi."  ^ 

^  Synops.  Script.,  vide  T.  vi.  p.  317.     Of.  Hieronymus,  ep.  53,  10: 
reading  the  Scriptures  =  to  be  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 
^  T.  iii.  p.  71  sq. 
3  Ep.  60,  10. 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET  117 

Monks  and  nuns — in  the  second  half  of  the  fourth 
century  it  becomes  absolutely  clear  that  moral  and 
spiritual  demands  which,  according  to  theory,  were 
addressed  to  all  Christians  are  more  and  more  being 
restricted  to  these  alone.  But  indeed  the  claims  of 
theory  necessarily  drove  the  consistent  Christian  into  the 
cloister,  as  the  conversion  of  St  Augustine  and  many 
other  similar  cases  most  clearly  show.  But  while  St 
Jerome  already  directs  his  exhortations  to  Christians  of 
the  first  and  second  class,  St  Chrysostom,  a  truly  great 
man,  contends  with  all  the  power  of  heart  and  will,  and 
devotes  every  resource  of  oratory  to  the  establishing  of 
one  simple  and  strict  ideal  for  all  Christians.  In  this 
contest  no  weapon  seems  to  him  to  be  more  powerful 
than  the  Bible.  In  the  midst  of  a  great  metropolis 
filled  with  Christians  who  were  Christians  only  in  name, 
he  never  wearies  in  his  endeavour  to  plant  the  Bible  in 
the  home,  in  the  firm  conviction  that,  if  he  can  only 
establish  regular  reading  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  family 
and  among  individuals,  he  is  thus  laying  a  solid 
foundation  for  a  truly  Christian  life. 

But  the  fact  that  this  exhortation  is  so  constantly 
repeated,^  of  itself  clearly  shows  that  as  a  rule  his  seed 
was  sown  on  stony  ground,^  and  the  objections  which  he 
seeks    to    refute    were    very    insistent.      "  We   are    not 

^  Not  only  in  the  church,  but  also  by  private  admonition  when  in- 
dividuals sought  advice  from  him. 

2  Unfortunately,  it  is  quite  impossible  to  give  with  any  approach  to 
accuracy  the  number  of  Bibles  in  private  possession  in  proportion  to  the 
size  of  the  community,  say  in  Antioch.     According  to  some  passages  in 


118  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

monks,""   some  objected,  showing   therewith  that  they 

applied  the  new  distinction  between  laymen  and  monks 

as  a  balm  to  their  consciences.^     "  I  am  tied  down  as 

a  government  official  to  the  courts ;  I  have  to  give  my 

attention    to   public    business ;    I  carry  on  a  trade ;    I 

must  look  after  my  wife  and  children  and  servants ;  in 

short,  I  am  a  man  of  the  world ;  it  is  not  my  business 

to  read  the  Bible ;  that  is  the  business  of  people  who 

have  renounced   the  world   and  devote  themselves   to 

a    lonely   life    upon    the    tops    of    the    mountains."^ 

"  What   is  worst  of  all    and   ruins    everything,""  cries 

St  Chrysostom,  "  is   this,   that  ye  believe   that    Bible 

reading  is  purely  a  matter   for  monks,  while  ye  need 

it  far  more    than  they.""*^     Others   declared  that  they 

Chrysostom,  it  seems  to  have  been  small.  ' '  Which  of  you  takes  up  a 
Christian  book  at  home  .  .  .  ?  Dice  are  to  be  found  in  most  homes,  but 
not  books,  at  least  only  in  few  homes  "  (Hom.  xxxii.  [xxxi,]  in  loann., 
T.  viii.  187  sq.).  According  to  other  passages  it  appears  to  have  been 
otherwise,  and  in  the  complaints  of  a  pastor  the  condition  of  his  flock  is 
often  painted  in  too  dark  a  light.  That  many  hermits  possessed  no 
Bible  we  may  naturally  assume,  and  indeed  learn  iucidentally  from 
Augustine,  I)e  Dodrina  Christ.,  i.  39. 

"^  Two  hundred  years  earlier  laymen  felt  themselves  relieved  in  their 
religious,  moral,  and  ecclesiastical  duties  by  the  distinction  between 
clergy  and  laity,  which  then  first  came  to  sharp  expression,  and  they 
shuffled  off  the  fulfilling  of  the  commandments  of  Christ  upon  the 
clergy  ;  we  learn  this  from  the  angry  complaints  of  Tertullian  ;  vide 
De  Exhort.  Cast,  7  ;  De  Monog.,  11,  12  :  "Cum  extollimur  etinflamur 
adversus  clerum,  tunc  unum  omnes  sumus,  tunc  omnes  sacerdotes,  quia 
sacerdoces  nos  deo  et  patri  fecit,  cum  ad  peraequationem  disciplinae 
sacerdotalis  provocamur,  deponimus  infulas." 

2  Hom.  iii.  de  Lazaro,  T.  i.  p.  737  ;  cf.  Hom.  xxi.  in  Genes.,  T.  iv. 
p.  189  sq. 

3  Hom.  ii.  in  Matth. ,  T.  vii.  p.  29  sq.  '  *  He  who  lives  amid  the  distrac- 
tions of  much  business  has  the  greatest  need  of  the  help  of  the  Bible." 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET  119 

would  not  read  the  Bible  because  they  could  not 
understand  it,  and  therefore  would  derive  no  benefit 
from  it.^  Others  said  that  they  found  absolutely 
no  time  for  quiet  Bible  reading.^  As  for  men  of 
standing  and  of  cultivated  mind,  we  possess  two  beauti- 
ful examples  of  the  tactful  way  in  which  the  duty  of 
reading  Holy  Scripture  was  presented  to  them  by  the 
bishops.  St  Augustine  writes  thus  to  the  "  Dominus 
illustris  et  meritus  praestantissimus ''  Volusianus  :  ^ 

"  De  salute  tua,  quam  et  in  hoc  saeculo  et  in  Christo 
esse  cupio,  sanctae  matris  tuae  votis  sum  fortasse  etiam 
ipse  non  impar.  unde  meritis  tuis  reddens  salutationis 
obsequium  hortor,  ut  valeo,  ut  litterarum  vere  certeque 
sanctarum  te  curam  non  pigeat  impendere.  sincera 
enim  et  solida  res  est  nee  fucatis  eloquiis  ambit  ad 
animum  nee  ullo  linguae  tectorio  inane  aliquid  ac 
pendulum  crepitat.  multum  movet  non  verborum  sed 
rerum  avidum  et  multum  terret  factura  securum. 
praecipue  apostolorum  linguas  exhortor  ut  legas ;  ex 
his  enim  ad  cognoscendos  prophetas  excitaberis,  quorum 

^  Horn.  iii.  de  Lazaro,  p.  739  sq. 

-  Some  also  seem  to  have  complained  that  a  quite  new  demand  was 
being  made  of  them  {vide  Hom.  i.  de  Lazaro,  i.  p.  719).  It  is  just 
possible,  but  not  at  all  probable,  that  in  connection  with  the  advance 
of  monasticism  greater  demands  were  made  of  the  laity  in  regard 
to  the  Bible.  Great  stress  was  laid  upon  Bible  reading  long  before 
the  time  of  St  Chrysostom,  and  the  new  demand  which  disturbed 
these  people  was  not  the  simple  requirement  that  the  Bible  should 
be  read,  but  the  regulation,  by  whioh  the  Bible  was  to  be  introduced 
into  the  home,  that  family  worship  with  reading  of  the  Scriptures 
should  be  held  after  supper  and  before  retiring  to  rest  {vide  infra). 

3  Ep.  132. 


120  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

testimoniis  utuntur  apostoli.  si  quid  autem,  vel  cum 
legeris  vel  cum  cogitas,  tibi  oritur  quaestionis,  in  quo 
dissolvendo  videar  necessarius,  scribe  ut  rescribam." 
What  a  tactful  letter  to  a  man  who  was  evidently 
sincere ! 

Paulinus  of  Nola,  in  his  letter  to  Jovius,^  also  has 
before  him  an  official  of  high  rank,  who  is  to  be  cured 
of  an  outspoken  disinclination  to  read  the  Holy 
Scriptures.     Paulinus  writes : 

'•  Erige  in  summam  sapientiae  mentem  tuam  et  ipsum 
veri  luminis  fomitem  Christum  pete,  qui  fideles  animas 
inluminat  et  pectora  casta  perlabitur.  quod  et  te  ita 
sentire  docuisti,  licet  pro  excusatione  praetenderis 
imparem  te  adhuc  et  ideo  non  capacem  dei  [scil.  of 
Holy  Scripture],  quia  terrenis  rebus  et  curis  obsessus  ab 
altiore  suspectu  caelestium  quasi  nubibus  interpositis 
arcearis.  sed  utinam  ista  tam  vere  possis  obtendere, 
quam  facunde  potes.  arguit  enim  ipsa  facundiae  tuae 
doctrinaeque  fecunditas  voluntatem  tibi  potius  in  sacris 
litteris  parem  quam  aut  vacationem  aut  fticultatem 
abesse.  non  enim,  opinor,  dormiens  aut  aliud  agens 
tantas  oris  aut  pectoris  divitias  coegisti.  omnium 
poetarum  floribus  spiras,  omnium  oratorum  fluminibus 
exundas,  philosophiae  quoque  fontibus  irrigaris,  pere- 
grinis  etiam  dives  litteris  Romanum  os  Atticis  favis 
imples.  quaeso  te,  ubi  tunc  tributa  sunt,  cum  Tullium 
et  Demosthenem  perlegis  ?  vel  iam  usitatiorum  de 
saturitate  fastidiens  lectionum  Xenophontem,  Plato- 
1  Ep.  16  (p.  114  sq.,  Hartel). 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUSTO  THEODORET  121 

nem,  Catonem  Varronemque  perlectos  revolvis  multosque 
praeterea,  quorum  nos  forte  nee  nomina,  tu  etiam 
volumina  tenes  ?  ut  istis  occuperis,  inmunis  et  liber, 
ut  Christum  hoc  est  sapientiam  dei  discas,  tributarius 
et  occupatus  es !  vacat  tibi  ut  et  philosophus  sis, 
non  vacat  ut  Christianus  sis.  verte  potius  sententiam, 
verte  facundiam.  nam  animi  philosophiam  non  deponas 
licet,  dum  earn  fide  condias  et  religione ;  conserta 
utare  sapientius,  ut  sis  dei  philosophus  et  dei  vates, 
non  quaerendo  sed  imitando  deum  sapiens,  ut  non 
lingua  quam  vita  eruditus  tarn  disseras  magna  quam 
facias  !     esto  Peripateticus  deo,  Pythagoreus  mundo."" 

Here  a  fair  amount  of  flattery  is  mingled  with 
irony  and  blame ;  but  all  is  directed  towards  the  one 
object  of  refuting  Jovius'  objections  and  inciting  him 
to  the  study  of  the  Bible. 

High  and  low,i  old  and  young,  catechumens  together 

with  the  faithful,  must  read  the  Bible.     In  regard  to 

the  introduction  of  catechumens  to  the  study  of  Holy 

Scripture,    we   possess   abundant    information    in    the 

catechetical    lectures   of    St   Cyril    of    Jerusalem   and 

St  Augustine's  treatises,  De  Catechizandis  Rudihus  and 

De  Doctrina    Christiana — information   which    finds  its 

completion    in    incidental     remarks    made    by    other 

Fathers.     It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  St  Athanasius, 

in  his  Festival  letter  of  the  year  367,  after  giving  a 

^  Country  people  were  as  a  rule  excepted.  Chrysostom  (Horn,  xix. 
de  Column.)  praises  the  Christian  peasants  who  dwelt  around  Antioch 
and  came  to  the  church  on  feast-days.  He  speaks,  indeed,  of  their 
spiritual  discourse,  but  never  of  their  Bible  reading. 


122  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

list  of  the  canonical  books,  remarks  that  there  was 
another  group  of  writings  which  did  not  belong  to 
the  Canon,  but  which  the  Fathers  had  determined  to 
be  suitable  for  catechumens,  namely,  the  Wisdom  of 
Solomon,  Sirach,  Esther,  Judith,  Tobit,  the  so-called 
Teaching  of  the  Apostles,  and  The  Shepherd.  As 
early  as  the  third  century  these  books  were  set  apart 
fort  his  purpose  {vide  supra,  p.  73),  a  fact,  indeed, 
which  perhaps  throws  light  upon  the  "  oportet ""  of 
the  Muratorian  fragment  {vide  supra,  p.  64). 

The  Fathers  without  scruple  direct  that  children  in 
Christian  homes  should  be  introduced  to  the  Bible  from 
the  very  earliest  age.  As  a  beginning  in  elementary 
education,  little  boys  and  girls  should  learn  to  put 
together  Biblical  names  with  their  ivory  letter  blocks — 
the  names  could  be  chosen  from  the  genealogies  of  our 
Lord  in  St  Matthew  and  St  Luke  (!) ; — they  should  then 
be  advanced  to  reading  the  Bible. ^  Girls  from  seven 
years  onwards  should  learn  the  Psalms  by  heart,  and 
should  have  read  the  Bible  before  the  age  of  maturity.^ 

^  Hieron.,  ep.  107,  4  sq.  ;  ep.  128,  1  (concerning  the  education  of 
little  Pacatula) :  ' '  Interim  modo  litterarum  elementa  cognoscat, 
iungat  syllabas,  discat  nomina,  verba  consociet  .  .  .  de  matris  pendeat 
collo,  vapiat  oscula  propinquorum,  psalmos  mercede  decantet,  amet  quos 
cogitur  discere,  ut  non  opus  sit  labor  sed  delectatio,  non  necessitas 
sed  voluntas." 

2  Hieron.,  ep.  128,  3:  "Cum  autem  virgunculam  rudem  et 
edentulam  septimus  aetatis  annus  exceperit  et  ceperit  erubescere,  scire 
quid  taceat,  dubitare  quid  dicat,  discat  memoriter  psalterium  et  usque 
ad  annos  pubertatis  libros  Salomonis,  Evangelia,  Apostolos  et  Pro- 
phetas  sui  cordis  thesaurum  faciat."  St  Basil  also  exhorts  a  widow  to 
nourish  her  growing  daughter  with  the  words  of  the  Lord.     Paulinus 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET  123 

The  Apostolk  Constitutions  (iv.  11)  gives  the  compre- 
hensive direction  :  "  Teach  your  children  thoroughly 
the  Word  of  the  Lord  .  .  .  and  place  in  their  hands 
every  book  of  Holy  Scripture.''  Many  Fathers— St 
Basil,  for  instance  ^ — testify  that  they  themselves  from 
their  very  earliest  youth  were  made  acquainted  with 
the  Bible.  Several  P'athers  insist  that  women  no  less 
than  men  should  occupy  themselves  with  the  study  of 
the  Bible.2 

Seeing  that  it  is  unfortunately  impossible  to  occupy 
oneself  continually  with  the  Bible  as  one  ought,  one 
must  make  a  practice  of  reading  a  daily  portion.^ 
Those  who  have  entirely  dedicated  themselves  to  God 
should  devote  several  hours  to  quiet  meditation  (in 
some  private  place),  alternating  prayer  with  reading.* 

of  Nola  {Carm.,  xxiv.  829  5^. )  gi^'es  directions  concerning  the  education 
of  his  young  nephew  ;  he  is  to  travel  through  all  the  libri  sacri. 
Cf.  Chrysos.,  Horn.  xxi.  in  Ep.  ad  Ephes.,  T.  xi.  p.  160. 

^  Proaem.  De  iudicio  dei,  T.  ii.  p.  213. 

-  I  would  here  only  refer  to  the  many  pertinent  epistles  of  St 
Jerome  to  women  and  maidens,  and  the  epistle  of  Pelagius  to  Demetrias. 
They  are  indeed  concerned  with  nuns,  or  women  who  are  about  to 
become  nuns  ;  but  they  set  forth  the  general  Christian  ideal.  Also  the 
letter  to  Celancia  printed  among  the  works  of  Jerome  and  Paulinus 
of  Nola  (Hartel,  i.  p.  436  sq.)  is  especially  instmctive  ;  see  especially 
c.  14 :  "  Non  tarn  frequenter  recordanda  sunt  praecepta  dei  quam  semper 
cogitanda.  Sint  ergo  divinae  scripturae  semper  in  manibus  et  iugiter 
mente  volvantur,  nee  sufficere  tibi  putes  mandata  dei  memoria  tenere 
et  operibus  oblivisci." 

=*  Hieron.,  ep.  107,  9  :  "  Reddat  tibi  pensum  quotidie  de  scriptur- 
amm  floribus  carptum."  Ep.  54,  11:  "  De  scripturis  Sanctis  habeto 
fixum  versuum  numerum  ;  istud  pensum  domino  tuo  redde "  ;  and 
many  similar  passages. 

*  Pelag.,  ep.  ad  Demetr.     Cf.  St  Jerome's  letters  to  nuns. 


124  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

The  rest  should  imitate  them  as  far  as  possible,  and  go 
into  similar  retirement  at  certain  fixed  hours.^  The 
reading  of  Scripture  will  not  separate  them  from  their 
family ;  indeed,  it  is  only  through  meditation  on  the 
Bible  that  they  will  gain  a  right  relation  to  the  family. 
Regular  Scripture  reading  after  the  chief  meal  (thus 
before  retiring  to  rest)  is  recommended  by  several 
Fathers,  though  in  Antioch  at  the  time  of  St  Chrysostom 
it  was  regarded  as  an  innovation.^  Caesarius  recom- 
mends  reading  at  table  if  it  is  impossible  to  read  before 
meals.^  Both  he^  and  St  Chrysostom^  recommend 
that  after  divine  service  the  lections  that  had  been 
heard  in  church  should  be  again  read  at  home.  St 
Chrysostom,  indeed,  always  announced  what  lections  he 
would  read  on  the  following  Sunday,  in  order  that  the 
congregation    might   read   them  and  think  over  them 

^  Paulin,,  ep.  ad  Celanciam,  24  i.,  p,  454  :  "  Ita  liabeto  domus 
sollicitudinem,  ut  aliquam  tamen  vacationem  animae  tribuas.  eligatur 
tibi  oportuuus  et  aliquantulum  a  familiae  strepitu  remotus  locus,  in 
quem  tu  velut  in  portum  quasi  ex  multa  tempestate  curarum  te 
recipias  et  excitatos  foris  cogitationum  fluctus  secreti  tranquillitate 
componas.  tantiim  tibi  sit  divinae  lectionis  studium,  tam  crebrae 
orationum  vices,  tam  firma  et  pressa  de  futuris  cogitatio,  ut  omnes 
reliqui  temporis  occupationes  facile  liac  vacatione  compenses.  nee  hoc 
ideo  dicimus,  quo  te  retrahamus  a  tuis,  immo  id  agimus,  ut  ibi  discas 
ibique  mediteris  qualem  tuis  te  praebere  debeas." 

2  Vide  supra,  p.  119  (Horn.  i.  de  Lazaro,  i,  p.  719),  Also  Hieron., 
ep.  54,  11  :  "  Quando  coraedis,  cogita  quod  statim  tibi  orandum,  illico 
et  legendum  sit  .  .  .  nee  ante  quieti  membra  concedas,  quam  calathum 
pectoris  tui  hoc  subtegmine  impleveris.  post  scripturas  sanctas 
doctorum  horainum  tractatus  lege." 

•^  Sermo  cxli.,  among  the  sermons  of  St  Augustine. 

*  Loc.  cit. 

^  *'  With  wife  and  children."     Hom.  v.  in  Matth.,  T.  vii.  p.  72  sq. 


PERIOD  FROMEUSEBIUSTOTHEODORET  125 

beforehand  at  home.^  Exhortations  not  to  read  too 
much  are  rare ;  yet  Pelagius  warns  Demetrias  not  to 
read  so  long  as  to  be  obliged  to  cease  from  weariness, 
and  St  Ambrose  writes  concerning  his  sister :  ^  "  Tu 
multiplicatis  noctibus  ac  diebus  innumera  tempora  sine 
cibo  transigis,  et  si  quando  rogaris  ut  cibum  suraas, 
paulisper  deponis  codicem,  respondes  illico  :  Non  in  pane 
solo  vivit  homo  sed  in  omni  verbo  dei.  Ipse  epularum 
usus  cibis  obviis ;  ut  edendi  fastidio  ieiunium  desi- 
deretur:  potus  e  fonte,  fletus  in  prece,  somnus  in 
codice." 

We  often  meet  with  the  strong  recommendation  that 
a  part  of  what  was  read,  especially  the  Psalms,  should  be 
learned  by  heart.^  In  antiquity,  moreover,  reading  and 
learning  by  heart  were  more  closely  connected  than  with 
us.  In  one  of  his  sermons  St  Chrysostom  complains 
bitterly  :  "  Which  among  you  that  are  assembled  here 
can  repeat  a  psalm  or  any  other  portion  out  of  the 
Bible  ?  Not  one  !  And  this  is  not  all  that  is  sad,  for  ye 
who  are  so  slothful  in  divine  things  are  only  the  more 
forward  in  the  things  of  Satan.  If  anyone  required  of 
vou  Satanic  odes  or  impure  lays,  he  would  find  many  who 
knew  them  well  and  would  repeat  them  with  pleasure. 

'  This  advice  is  very  often  given  in  his  homilies  ;  he  was  evidently 
very  anxious  to  introduce  this  custom  ;  vide  Horn.  iii.  de  Lazaro, 
T.  i.  p.  737  and  elsewhere. 

2  De  Virginihus,  iii.  4,  15.  Similar  remarks  are  made  by  St 
Jerome. 

^  This  command  applied  to  monks  with  double  emphasis  ;  but  every 
Christian  should  commit  this  most  essential  book  to  memory,  for  in  it 
is  summed  up  all  that  is  profitable  in  Holy  Scripture. 


126  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

What  is  your  defence  against  such  charges  ?  Ye  say  : 
I  am  not  a  monk  but  a  married  man,  a  father,  and  must 
direct  the  business  of  my  household."'  ^ 

The  Psalms  are  to  be  learned  by  heart — the  Psalms, 
indeed,  stand  everywhere  in  the  foreground  of  Bible 
reading.^  The  man  begins  with  them  when  he  is 
already  a  child,  and  they  are  to  be  his  companions 
through  life  ;  for  all  that  is  profitable  in  Holy  Scripture 
is  found  gathered  together  in  the  Psalms ;  for  layman 
and  monk^  they  are  alike  important.  Here  West  and 
East  are  at  one,  and  there  is  no  need  of  quotations  to 
prove   it.^     St  Jerome  even  counsels  pious  and  gifted 


^  Horn.  ii.  in  Matth.,  T.  vii.  p.  29  sq.  ;  vide  supra,  p.  118. 

2  Psalms  and  lectio  are  also  distinguished  from  one  another  ;  vide 
Hieron.,  ep.  130,  11  :  "nee  in  lectione  nee  in  psalmis." 

^  Nuns:  Hieron.,  ep.  108,  19,  concerning  the  convent  of  Paula: 
' '  Mane,  hora  tertia,  sexta,  nona,  vespere,  noctis  medio  per  ordinem 
psalterium  cantabant. " 

*  The  praise  of  the  Psalms  is  proclaimed  in  the  fullest  tones  by- 
Gregory  of  Nyssa  (Tract,  i.,  in  psalm,  inscr.  3,  T.  i.  p.  263  sq.).  He 
would  show  why  the  difficult  teaching  of  the  virtuous  life,  the  procla- 
mation of  doctrines  so  mysterious,  a  theology  veiled  in  dogma  so 
unintelligible,  are  made  so  easy,  so  acceptable  in  the  Psalms,  that  not 
only  those  who  are  more  mature  and  practised  in  the  spiritual  life 
eagerly  listen  to  their  teaching,  but  also  women  as  if  it  belonged  only 
to  them  ;  that  children  find  in  it  the  same  pleasure  as  in  their  games, 
the  aged  the  same  satisfaction  as  in  their  staff  and  their  repose  ;  that 
the  joyful  believe  that  the  gift  was  meant  only  for  them,  while  the 
sorrowful  and  unfortunate  likewise  think  that  it  is  for  their  sake  that 
God  has  given  this  gracious  boon.  Even  so,  those  who  travel  by  land 
or  sea  and  those  who  sit  at  home  about  their  business,  in  short,  all 
classes,  men  and  women,  sick  and  whole,  count  it  loss  if  they  have  not 
this  lofty  teaching  in  their  mouths.  At  our  feasts,  at  our  marriage 
revels,  this  philosophy  is  a  part  of  our  enjoyment,  etc.  Ambros.,  Praef. 
in  Psal.  i.  enarr.  7  :    "In  libro  Psalmorum  profectus  est  omnium  et 


PERIOD  FROMEUSEBIUSTOTHEODORET  127 

women  and  maidens  to  learn  Hebrew,  in  order  to  be  able 
to  read  the  Psalms  in  the  original,  and  his  exhortation 
was  not  without  effect.^ 

Starting  from  the  Psalms,  the  reading  of  the  Bible  is 
to  be  p-raduallv  extended.  Full  use  must  be  made  of 
the  manv-sidedness  of  the  Bible.-  Many  Fathers  show 
that  their  mind  is  set  upon  an  ordered  course  of  read- 
ing,^ though  they  do  not  go  into  details.  Here  St 
Jerome  (ep.  107,  12)  is  the  most  precise  in  his  re- 
commendations ;  he  draws  up  what  is  a  veritable  course 
of  reading  and  instruction  :  "  Discat  primo  Psalterium, 
his  se  cantis  avocet  et  in  Proverbiis  Salomonis  erudiatur 
ad  vitam.  in  Ecclesiaste  consuescat  quae  mundi  sunt 
calcare.     in  lob  virtutis  et  patientiae  exempla  sectetur. 


medicina  quaedam  salutis  huraanae.  .  .  .  Intra  unum  Psalmum  (ps. 
67)  totam  paternae  historiae  seriem  accipit  comprehensam  .  .  .  8  :  In 
Psdlmis  nobis  non  solum  nascitur  Jesus,  sed  etiani  salutar^m  illam 
suscipit  corporis  passionem,  quiescit,  resurgit,  ascendit  ad  caelum,  sedet 
ad  dexteram  patris  "  ;  cf.  %  9. 

^  Hieron.,  ep,  39,  1  (de  Blaesilla) :  "  Si  Graece  loquentem  audiisses, 
Latine  eam  nescire  putares  ;  si  in  Romanum  sonum  lingua  se  verterat, 
nihil  omnino  peregi'ini  sermo  redolebat.  lam  vero  quod  in  Origene  quo- 
que  illo  Graecia  tota  rairatur,  in  panels  non  dicara  mensibus,  sed  diebus, 
ita  Hebraeae  linguae  vicerat  difficnltates,  ut  in  discendis  canendisque 
Psalmis  cum  matre  contenderet. "  Ep.  30;  33;  108,  19  (de  Paula): 
"  Non  licebat  cuiquam  sororura  ignorare  psalmos  et  non  de  scripturis 
Sanctis  quotidie  aliquid  discere."  Ep.  108,  26:  "  Hebiaeam  linguara 
discere  voluit  et  consecuta  est,  ita  ut  psalmos  Hebraice,  caneret  et 
sermonem  absque  ulla  Latinae  linguae  proprietate  personaret.  quod 
quidera  usque  hodie  in  sancta  tilia  eius  Eustochia  cernimus." 

2  Pelagius,  Ep.  ad  Demetr.  But  the  reading  of  Scripture  should 
not  be  "ad  laborem,"  but  "ad  delectationem"  (Hieron.,  ep.  130,  15). 

2  Vide  supra,  pp.  72  ff.  ;  119  ff,  Augustin.,  ad  Volusianum  and 
De  Doctr    Christ.,  ii.  9. 


128  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

ad     Evangelia     transeat,    numquam     ea    positura   de 
manibus.     Apostolorum  Acta  et  epistolas  tota   cordis 
imbibat  voluntate.     cumque  pectoris  sui  cellarium  his 
opibus    locupletaverit,    mandet    memoriae    Prophetas, 
Heptateuchum    et    Regum    et    Paralipomenom   libros, 
Esdrae  quoque  et  Esther  volumina.     ad  ultimum  sine 
periculo  discat  Canticum  Canticorum,  ne  si  in  exordio 
legerit,  sub  carnahbus  verbis   spirituahum   nuptiarum 
epithalamium  non  intelligens,  vulneretur.    caveat  omnia 
apocrypha    .    .    .    Cypriani    opuscula  semper  in  manu 
teneat.     Athanasii  epistolas  et  Hilarii  Hbros  inoffenso 
decurrat  pede.     illorum  tractatibus,  illorum  delectetur 
ingeniis,   in    quorum   libris   pietas   fidei    non    vacillat. 
ceteros    sic   legat,    ut    magis    iudicet   quam   sequatur." 
From  St  Jerome  we  thus  derive  the  following  course  of 
Bible  reading :  first  the  Kethubim  (except  the  Song  of 
Solomon),  i.e.  the  ethical  writings  form  the  commence- 
ment ;  then  follow  the  Gospels  ;  in  the  third  place  come 
the   Apostolic  writings ;  in   the  fourth   place,  all   the 
remaining    books    of    the    Old   Testament,   with    the 
Prophets  in  the  forefront;   the  course  closes  with  the 
Song  of  Solomon.     The  principles  governing  this  course 
are  transparent. 

But  how  confused  must  have  been  the  poor  head  of 
the  layman — of  the  plain  man  or  woman — that  was  thus 
crammed  with  the  Bible  !  How  much  could  they  under- 
stand .?  The  Fathers  do  not  disguise  from  themselves 
the  fact  that  much — and  more  especially  the  deeper 
significance — must  remain  unintelligible  to  them.     But 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET  129 

they  console  themselves  with  the  following  considera- 
tions:  (1)  The  verbal  sense  on  its  ethical  side,  the 
narratives,  and  the  Gospel  stories  and  miracles  are 
for  the  most  part  intelligible  and  can  be  at  once  as- 
similated when  simply  read,^  and  such  simple  reading 
is  what  God  wills,  who  does  not  demand  of  us 
subtlety  of  intellect;-  (2)  God  will  Himself  provide 
for  further  understanding  according  to  the  need  of 
each ;  (3)  even  what  is  not  understood  is  valuable  for 
edification  and  promotes  sanctifi cation,^  and  even  what 
seems  to  be  unedifying,  such  as  the  lists  of  names 
and  the  genealogies,  enshrines  rich  jewels  of  mystery  ;^ 
(4)  a  man  can  advance  himself  in  understanding  of 
the  Bible  by  asking  questions  of  good  teachers.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  interested  laymen  constantly  availed 
themselves  of  this  means,  as  is  especially  shown  in  the 
works  of  St  Jerome  and  St  Augustine.  St  Jerome 
was  often  overwhelmed  with  questions  addressed  to  him 
concerning  the  Bible,  more  especially  by  his  spiritual 
friends  among  the  ladies  of  Rome.  It  is  plain  that 
at  the  end  of  the  fourth  and  the  beginning  of  the  fifth 
century  there  was  a  spiritual  awakening  everywhere  in 
connection  with  the  growing  adoption  of  monasticism 
by  persons  of  education ;  this  movement  was  in  close 

^   Vide  especially  Chrysostom,  Horn.  iii.  de  Lazaro,  T.  i.  p.  739  sq. 

-  Vide,  e.g.,  Ephraem,  Sermo  Ixx.  adv.  scrutatores,  T.  iii.  p.  193 
(Syro-Lat,  Assemani) ;  Hierou.  in  lesaj.,  L.  iv.,  T.  iii.  p.  102. 

^  Chrysostom,  loc.  cit. 

4  Chrysostom,    Hom.  xxi.  in  Genes.,  T.  iv.   p.   181  ;   Hom.  ii.    in 
lesaj.  \i.  2,  T.  vi.  p.  109. 

«/ 


ISO  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

touch  with  the  Bible  ;  men  wished  to  master  the  Bible 
that  they  might  attain  to  the  knowledge  of  God  and 
deepen  their  spiritual  life.^  Among  those  of  lower 
social  rank  the  movement  was  at  work  at  an  earlier 
date ;  but  here  also  study  of  the  Bible  was  now  more 
strenuous  than  before.  Even  among  barbarians,  friends 
of  the  Bible  were  not  wanting.  "Jam  Aegyptius 
Serapis  factus  est  Christianus,  Marnas  Gazae  luget 
inclusus  et  eversionem  templi  iugiter  pertimescit.  de 
India,  Perside,  Aethiopia  monachorum  quotidie  turbas 
suscipimus.  deposuit  pharetras  Armenius,  Hunni 
discunt  psalterium,  Scythiae  frigora  fervent  calore 
fidei :  Getularum  rutilus  et  flavus  exercitus  ecclesiarum 
circumfert  tentoria."^  "Quis  hoc  crederet,"  cries  St 
Jerome  in  one  of  his  epistles,^  "ut  barbara  Getarum 
lingua  Hebraicam  quaereret  veritatem  et  dormitan- 
tibus,  imo  contendentibus  Graecis  ipsa  Germania 
spiritus  sancti  eloquia  scrutaretur  ?  '"* 

Such  Bible  reading  has  disadvantages ;  it  tends  to 
encourage  faults  which  manifest  themselves  among  all 
those  whose  knowledge  of  the  Bible  is  gained  through 
self-education  or  at  the  ordinary  Bible-class,  such  as  self- 

1  In  connection  with  this  movement,  the  great  Bible-quaestiones 
literature  makes  its  appearance  partly  as  an  independent  branch  (c/.,  as 
the  most  ancient  Latin  work  of  the  kind,  the  voluminous  and  valuable 
"  Quaestiones  "  of  Pseudo- Augustine  on  the  two  Testaments,  which 
belongs  to  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  and  proceeds  perhaps  from  the 
Jewish-Christian  Isaac  :  ed.  Souter,  1908),  partly  in  conjunction  with 
more  general  works  of  the  same  kind, 

2  Hieron.,  ep.  107,  2. 
^  Ep.  106,  1. 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET  131 

conceit,  spiritual  pride,  disdain  of  theological  learning. 
These  faults  were  not  wanting  in  those  early  days, 
but  they  were  rarely  rebuked,  from  apprehension  lest 
the  Spirit  might  be  quenched  and  Bible  reading  re- 
stricted. Only  the  three  most  important  and  most 
cultured  Fathers — Augustine,  Jerome,  and  Gregory 
of  Nazianzen — ventured  to  speak  words  of  warning. 
St  Augustine,  in  the  notable  preface  to  his  work, 
De  Doctrina  Christiana^  gives  most  energetic  expres- 
sion to  the  thought  that  those  who,  in  their  Bible 
reading,  trust  solely  to  the  spirit  fall  into  error  and 
cannot  grasp  the  real  sense  of  what  they  read,  and 
that  devoted  study  and  accurate  knowledge  are  thus 
indispensable.  The  spirit,  he  continues,  is  never  found 
apart  from  the  letter ;  therefore  human  guidance  is 
necessary  for  the  understanding  of  the  Scriptures,  for 
the  letter  implies  learning.  "  Be  it  said  in  all  seri- 
ousness :  let  each  learn  without  self-conceit  all  that 
can  only  be  learned  from  men,  and  let  everyone  who 
teaches  others  impart  without  self-conceit  and  envy  all 
that  he  has  received.  I^et  us  not  tempt  God,  to  whom 
we  have  given  ourselves,  in  that  we,  led  astray  by  the 
wiles  of  the  Enemy  and  our  own  perversity,  determine 
neither  to  go  to  church  nor  to  read  a  book  nor  to  listen 
to  human  reading  or  exhortation,  not  even  that  we 
may  hear  and  learn  about  the  Gospel.  Must  we  then 
expect,  in  the  body  or  out  of  the  body,  as  the  Apostle 
says,  to  be  caught  up  into  the  third  heaven  and  there 
to  hear    unspeakable  words  which    no  man   can  utter, 


132  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

or  there  to  see  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  to  hear 
the  Gospel  from  Him  rather  than  from  men  ? ''  St 
Augustine  then  refers  very  pertinently  to  the  fact 
that  even  St  Paul,  though  he  had  heard  the  voice  from 
heaven,  was  yet  sent  to  Ananias,  and  that  the  centurion 
Cornelius,  though  he  was  found  worthy  to  receive  the 
angelic  visitation,  yet  needed  St  Peter  to  give  him 
instruction.  "  All  this  could  have  been  given  by  the 
Angel ;  but  the  dignity  of  human  nature  would  have 
been  compromised  if  God  had  made  it  appear  that  He 
did  not  wish  His  work  to  be  proclaimed  to  man  by 
man."  ...  "If  men  learn  nothing  by  human  means, 
love,  which  binds  men  together  in  the  bond  of  unity, 
would  have  no  opportunity  to  draw  souls  together  in 
mutual  converse  and  to  blend  them  with  one  another.'' 
The  following  passage,  directed  against  these  self-taught 
spiritualists,  is  most  noteworthy:  "They  have  good 
confidence  in  their  gift  from  God  whereby  they  can  at 
once  comprehend  the  obscurities  of  Holy  Scripture,  and 
they  seek  thereby  not  their  own  but  God's  glory.  But 
if  one  of  them  himself  reads  and  understands  without 
human  explanation,  why  does  he  apply  himself  to  give 
explanations  to  others^  why  does  he  not  rather  point  them 
to  God  that  they  also  may  attain  to  insight  not  hy  human 
mediation  hut  by  direct  divine  inspiration?  Is  it  not 
perhaps  because  he  fears  that  he  may  one  day  hear 
those  words  :  '  Thou  slothful  servant,  thou  shouldest 
have  given  my  money  to  the  changeis'?  Seeing  that 
these  also  impart  their  knowledge  by  word  and  writing. 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET  133 

I  also  am  not  deserving  of  their  blame.  ...  No  one 
may  treat  anything  except  what  is  false  as  his  own 
peculiar  property.'' 

In  other  fashion  St  Jerome  makes  the  similar  com- 
plaint that  everyone  imagined  that  he  could  interpret 
the  Bible.  Let  his  pointed  and  biting  words  speak  for 
themselves :  ^  ''  Sola  scripturarum  ars  est,  quam  sibi 
omnes  passim  vindicant.  'Scribimus  indocti  doctique 
poemata  passim  '  [Horatius].  Hanc  garrula  anus,  banc 
delirus  senex,  hanc  sophista  verbosus,  hanc  universi 
praesumunt,  lacerant,  docent,  antequam  discant.  alii 
adducto  supercilio  grandia  verba  trutinantes  inter 
mulierculas  de  sacris  literis  philosophantur.  alii  discunt, 
proh  pudor,  a  feminis,  quod  viros  doceant,  et  ne  parum 
hoc  sit,  quadam  facilitate  verborum,  imo  audacia 
edisserunt  aliis,  quod  ipsi  non  intelligunt.  taceo  de 
mei  similibus,  qui  si  forte  ad  scripturas  sanctas  post 
saeculares  literas  venerint,  et  sermone  composito  aurem 
populi  mulserint,  quidquid  dixerint,  hoc  legem  dei 
putant,  nee  scire  dignantur,  quid  prophetae,  quid 
apostoli  senserint,  sed  ad  sensum  suum  incongrua 
aptant  testimonia,  quasi  grande  sit  et  non  vitiossimum 
docendi  genus,  depravare  sententias  et  ad  voluntatem 
suam  scripturam  trahere  repugnantem."  - 

1  Ep.  53,  7. 

-  Cf.  also  Ep.  119,  11;  130,  17:  "Certo  si  rudes  saecularium 
literarum  de  tractatibus  hominum  disertorum  quippiara  legerint, 
verbositatem  solam  discunt  absque  notitia  scripturarum,  et  iuxta 
vetus  elogium :  cum  loqui  nesciant,  tacere  non  possunt  docentque 
scripturas  quas  non  intelligunt,  et  cum  aliis  persuaserint,  eruditorum 


134  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

But  Gregory  of  Nazianzen  is  the  only  Father  who 
declares  in  plain  words  that  the  whole  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture is  not  meant  for  persons  of  all  ages,  that  it  is 
presumptuous  folly  to  pretend  to  interpret  the  Bible 
without  adequate  knowledge,  that  by  this  means  many 
dangerous  errors  have  arisen,  and  that  some  ancient 
Hebrew  teachers  had  judged  that  the  whole  Bible 
should  not  be  made  accessible  to  the  faithful  before 
they  had  reached  the  age  of  twenty-five  years.^  He 
does  not,  however,  venture  to  accept  or  recommend  this 
rule  in  plain  terms.  An  attempt  to  introduce  such 
restrictions  into  the  Churches  was  evidently  hopeless. 
Neither  Augustine  nor  Jerome  nor  Gregory  dreamed  of 
compulsory  rules  limiting  the  reading  of  the  Bible. 

§  4. — Biblical  Theology  and  the  Laity 

The  Church's  science  is  Biblical  science,  and  in 
principle  she  owns  no  other.  The  two  founders  of 
ecclesiastical  theology,  Justin  and  Valentinus  (Ptolemy), 
created  this  science  as  in  strict  sense  a  theology  of  the 
Bible  2 — Justin    as   a   theology  of  the  Old  Testament 

sibi  assumunt  supercilium,  prius  imperitorum  magistri  quam  doctorum 
discipuli.  bonum  est  igitur  obedire  maioribus,  parere  perfectis  et  post 
regulas  scripturarum  vitae  suae  tramitem  ab  aliis  discere  nee  praeceptore 
uti  pessimo,  scilicet  praesumptione  sua.  De  talibus  feminis  [he  is 
therefore  speaking  of  women]  et  apostolus  loquitur." 

^  Orat.  ii.  48,  T.  i.  p.  35  ;  vide  supra,  p.  30. 

2  In  Texte  und  Untersuch.,  Bd.  xxviii.,  2b,  S.  3  ff.  (1905),  I  have 
pointed  out  that  it  is  possible  that  the  Ptolemy  of  Justin's  second 
apology  is  identical  with  Ptolemy  the  Gnostic.     I  am  the  more  con- 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET  135 

with  help  from  the  Gospels ;  Ptolemy  as  a  theology 
of  the  Gospels  and  the  Pauline  doctrine  in  antithesis 
to  the  Old  Testament.  The  synthesis  of  the  two 
was  carried  out  by  Irenaeus,  Clement,  and  Origen, 
who  made  the  theology  of  the  Church  the  theology 
of  both  Testaments.  The  process  first  reached  its 
completion  with  Origen,^  and  remained  as  he  left  it. 
St  Augustine,  in  his  work  De  Doctrma  Christiana^ 
i.e.  "Concerning  Christian  Theology,''  understands 
ecclesiastical  theology  as  being  exclusively  a  theology 
of  the  Bible. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the  vast  questions 
of  the  manner  in  which  this  science  took  form,  of  its 
principles,  its  organisation  and  development  as  a  kind 
of  Biblical  alchemy  in  decided  opposition  to  all  know- 
ledge based  upon  the  intellect,  though  copious  use 
was  made  of  the  same.  Our  sole  concern  is  to  establish 
the  fact  that  in  the  fourth  century  this  theology  was 
as  exoteric  as  the  Bible  itself,  which  xvas  meant  to  be 
read  by  everyone.  The  prudent  efforts  of  Origen  to 
reserve  Biblical  theology  for  the  "  Gnostics,"'  i.e.  for 
theologians,  were  felt  to  be  a  serious  encroachment 
upon  the  universality  and  the  popular  character  of 
Christianity,  and  as  such  were  rejected.     This  on  the 

firmed  in  my  opinion  since  noticing  how  alike,  in  spite  of  all  differences, 
is  the  attitude  of  both  towards  the  Old  Testament ;  vide  my  article 
concerning  St  Matt.  v.  17  in  the  SUzungsber.  der  Preuss.  Akademie, 
15th  February  1912.  I  believe  that  Justin  learned  from  Ptolemy  as  did 
Origen  from  Heracleon. 

^   Vide  his  work  De  Prineipiis,  especially  book  iv. 


136  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

one  hand  necessarily  led  to  the  fatal  result  that  the 
worship  of  the  letter,  the  orthodoxy  of  ordinary  and  mon- 
astic minds,  sooner  or  later  completely  triumphed ; 
yet  on  the  other  hand  there  was  the  good  side  that 
in  the  early  days  of  the  Church  the  Bible  was  never 
handed  over  either  to  the  priesthood  or  to  some  separate 
caste  as  their  exchtsive  possession.  Biblical  theology 
was  in  principle  as  accessible  to  the  laity  as  to  the 
clergy,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  laymen  did  participate 
in  it.^  There  is  a  general  disposition  to  paint  the 
early  history  of  the  Church  in  too  ecclesiastical  colours, 
in  that  traits  which  belong  to  the  Middle  Ages  are 
too  hastily  assigned  to  it.  The  ministration  of  public 
worship  and  of  the  sacraments  lay  in  the  hands  of 
the  priests ;  but  the  Bible  together  with  Biblical 
theology  were  exoteric,  it  was  intended  that  in  these 
all,  to  the  best  of  their  powers,  should  exercise  them- 
selves. Compared  with  other  religions,  there  was 
something  of  a  paradox  in  the  fact  that  the  books 
were  accessible  to  all ;  yet  this  very  fact  reveals  an 
essential  difference  between  the  Christian  religion  (with 
the  Jewish)  and  other  religions :  ^  each  man  is  to 
be   "taught   of  God,"  each   for   himself  should  daily 

^  Justin  and  other  apologists  were  laymen  ;  Origen  as  a  layman 
laid  the  foundations  of  ecclesiastical  dogmatics ;  the  heads  of  the 
Alexandrian  school  were  obliged  to  be  laymen  ;  it  is  doubtful  whether 
Tertullian  was  a  cleric  ;  Augustine  as  a  layman  applied  himself  to 
ecclesiastical  theology  ;  and  so  forth. 

2  Islam,  the  daughter- religion  of  Christianity,  treats  the  Koran  in 
the  same  way. 


PERIOD  FROMEUSEBIUSTOTHEODORET  137 

listen  to  the  Divine  Voice  in  the  Bible.  Hence  in 
the  early  days  Christianity  never  fully  became  a 
my  s  tery-religi  on .  ^ 

Together  with  the  Bible  the  Church  possesses  the 
Creed,  the  deposit  of  her  faith  and  her  tradition,  as 
a  fundamental  rule  of  belief.  What  is  the  relation 
between  Creed  and  Bible,  or,  in  other  words,  between 
tradition  and  the  Bible  ?  Volumes  have  been  written 
on  this  subject.  At  no  period  has  the  relation  been 
clearly  realised.  It  is  indeed  obvious  that  the  New 
Testament  "  came  in  between '' ;  for  the  fides  quae 
creditur  was  prior  to  the  New  Testament,  and  the 
Old  Testament  was  prior  to  the  fides.  It  might  be 
said  that  the  traditional  fides  was  true  because  it  could 
be  proved  from  Holy  Scripture  (or  was  derived  from 
Holy  Scripture),  or  that  the  Scripture  was  inspired 
because  it  bore  testimony  to  the  tenets  of  the 
traditional  fides.  Both  statements,  forming  as  they 
do  an  argument  in  a  circle,  were  equally  orthodox. 
It  was  accounted  correct  to  confirm  tha  truth  of  the 
Creed  clause  by  clause  by  means  of  texts  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture— every  catechumen  was  supposed  to  be  supplied 
with  a  store  of  such  texts  ^ — and  to  regard  the  Creed 
as  a  surrogate  for  the  inexhaustible  riches  of  Holy 
Scripture,   as   an    excerpt    from    Scripture   convenient 


^  The  rise  of  monasticism  and  of  monastic  theology  was  conditioned 
by  this  fact. 

"^  Vide  the  Testimonia  of  Cyprian,  and  especially  the  catechetical 
lectures  of  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  Epiphan.,  Ancorat.,  199,  etc. 


138  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

and  easy  to  handle.^  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  as 
correct  to  regard  the  Creed  as  the  complete  epitome 
of  religion  ("  a  Christo  per  apostolos '')  and  to  recognise 
the  actual  possibility  of  a  Christian  life  lived  without 
the  Scriptures  and  only  in  accordance  with  the  rule 
of  the  fides.  The  traditional  fides  was,  however,  more 
acceptable  to  the  officials  of  an  ecclesiastical  system 
than  the  Scriptures ;  for  these  ever  kept  alive  the 
truth  of  the  universal  priesthood  and  afforded  to  the 
reader  independent  and  free  converse  with  God.  The 
popular  view  concerning  the  relation  between  Holy 
Scripture  and  the  Creed  of  the  Church  is  reproduced 
by  Vincentius  of  Lerinum  in  his  Commonitorium 
(1  sq.\  where  he  says  that  Holy  Scripture  is  in  itself 
all-sufficient ;  but,  seeing  that  it  is  interpreted  in  various 
ways,  and  that  thus  many  heresies  and  errors  have 
arisen,  it  is  therefore  necessary  to  call  in  the  Church's 
Creed  as  a  guide  to  interpretation.  According  to 
this  view,  the  Holy  Scripture  is  superior  to  the  Creed ; 

^  Cyril,  Catech.,  v.  12 :  niffTiv  eV  fxaBTjcm  koI  airayyeXia  Krriaai  koI 
ri]pr]ffov  ^i6v'f)v,  t^v  vwh  ttjs  iKKXriaias  vvui  croi  irapaSLdoiJ.ev'nv,  'tt]V  4k 
TracTTjs  ypa(pris  coxvpcc/jLevrju.  eTretSr/  yap  ov  ndpTes  Svvavrai  ray  ypatpas 
avayiv(t)(TK€Lv,  dAAa  rohs  fihv  ISicortia,  rohs  5e  otrxoAia  ris  ifj-iroSi^ti  irphs 
T7JJ/  yvuaiv'  virep  tov  jx)]  rrjv  ^vxw  H  «j"a^t«s  cnroXecrdai  iv  oXiyoLS  ro7s 
(TTixois  rh  ■7rav56y/xa  ttjs  TrtCTewy  irepiXaix^oiuofJLeu  ....  Koi  Tews  fiev 
ctt'  outtjs  TTJs  Xc^iccs  OLKOvuv,  fJLVT]ii6vev(T0V  T7JS  TTtcTTews,  (KBexov  5e  Kara 
rhu  Seovra  Kaiphv  t7?v  airh  rwu  Oeiwv  ypacpwy  irepl  kKaarov  twv  iyK^i/nevcov 
triffTaffiv  oh  yap  cos  e5o|ev  avdpwirois  avviredr]  to,  rrjs  UicTTeas,  d\\'  ck 
■jracTTjs  ypacprjs  ra  Kaipiwrara  avKXex^^VTa  fiiav  dj/oTrAT/poT  r^v  t^s 
niareus  SidaaKahiav,  Here  the  Creed  is  completely  subordinated  to 
Scripture  ;  but  the  history  of  its  origin  is  simply  constructed  without 
reference  to  the  actual  facts. 


PERIOD  FROM  EUSEBIUS  TO  THEODORET  139 

but  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  so  many  Fathers  are  of  a 
similar  opinion,  yet  the  Church  of  Rome  has  never  been 
able  to  acquiesce  in  it. 

St  Augustine  alone  boldly  makes  a  statement  which 
implies  a  freedom  even  surpassing  the  freedom  implied 
by   the  possession  of  the  Scripture  as  opposed  to  the 
claims  of  ecclesiastical  dogma.     He  writes  {De  Doctrina 
Christiana,  i.  39)  :  "  A  man  ivho  bases  himself  upon  Faith, 
Hope,  and  Love,  and  keeps  firm  hold  of  these,  needs  the 
Scriptuie  only  for  the  instruction  of  others.      Thus  many 
live  by  these  three  virtues  without  any  books,  even  in  the 
desert.''     The  second  sentence  weakens  the  force  of  the 
first ;    yet    St    Augustine    does    not    intend    the    first 
sentence  to  apply  only  to  monks,  as  is  shown  by  many 
passages  of  his  works.     He  here  understands  by  Faith, 
Hope,  and  Love  a  frame  of  mind  that  is  not  simply 
and  solely  obedience  to  the  traditional  ^c^^.?,  but  lies  in 
another   sphere  which  he   himself  has    discovered   yet 
cannot  adequately  describe.     What  he  says  passes  far 
beyond  Origen's  theory  that  the  perfect  "  Gnostic  "  has 
no    further   need   of   ordinary   means  of  grace  and  of 
knowledge,  or  rather  the  two  views  are  not  on  the  same 
plane.       The   pre-Augustinian   period    was    dominated 
by  two   ideals — an    authoritative   Christianity    of  the 
Creed  (the  Apostolic  deposit)  and  a  Christianity  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  equally  authoritative,  through  enshrin- 
ing an  element  of  liberty.     Both    ideals  were  equally 
accessible    to    the  laity.     St  Augustine  denied  neither 
the  one  nor  the  other,  but  he  had  so  lived  himself  into 


140  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

the  spirit  of  the  Psalms  and  of  St  Paul  that  he  had 
arrived  at  the  vision  of  a  state  of  Christian  independ- 
ence which  had  no  further  need  of  sacred  writings. 

Yet  one  more  question,  and  the  last :  Do  we  find 
that  there  existed  in  early  days  a  lay  theology  distinct 
from,  or  perhaps  opposed  to,  the  prevalent  theology  of 
the  Church  ?  The  question  is  to  be  answered  in  the 
negative.  It  is  indeed  true  that  since  the  second 
century  two  schools  of  theology,  one  "  realistic ""  and 
"  literal,''  the  other  "  idealistic ''  and  "  spiritual,''  stood 
in  strong  opposition  to  one  another  :  I  have  fully  dealt 
with  these  two  schools  and  the  history  of  their  relation 
with  one  another  in  my  History  of  Dogma.  It  is  also 
true  that  the  realistic  and  literal  school  derived  then, 
as  always,  part  of  its  power  from  the  simple  and 
fanatical  believers  among  the  uneducated  laity  (and 
the  monks) ;  but  the  sides  were  never,  or  at  least  only 
here  and  there,  so  divided  as  to  constitute  a  cleavage 
between  clergy  and  laity.  This  statement  holds  good 
for  the  Montanist,  Monarchian,  Eschatological,  Origen- 
istic,  and  other  controversies.  Laymen  and  monks 
never  had  cause  to  complain  that  their  obscurantist, 
realistic,  and  "  literal  "  views  were  unrepresented  in  the 
public  Forum  of  the  Church,  and  that  their  corporeal 
God,  furnished  with  all  parts  and  members,  was  destitute 
of  a  champion  there.  More  than  once,  indeed,  in  the 
history  of  dogma  the  "  scientific "  faith  of  the  theo- 
logians overcame  and  suppressed  the  naive  faith  of  the 
majority  of  Christians,  but  as  a  rule  this  majority  also 


PERIOD  FROMEUSEBIUSTOTHEODORET  141 

included  the  greater  part  of  the  clergy.  After  the 
close  of  the  fourth  century  the  great  compromise  was 
concluded  between  the  two  schools,  and  the  monks  as 
the  champions  of  the  naive  faith  of  the  laity  now 
celebrated  their  triumph.  But  although  some  priests, 
like  Theophilus  of  Alexandria  and  Jerome,  were  com- 
pelled to  capitulate,  this  triumph  could  be  felt  and 
regarded  only  as  a  victory  over  the  theologians,  not 
over  the  priests,  for  it  was  as  theologians,  not  as  priests, 
that  they  made  their  submission,  and  the  ranks  of  the 
victors  were  led  by  priests,  above  all  by  Epiphanius. 
We  have  therefore  no  right  to  describe  the  priests  as 
the  vanquished,  or  to  speak  of  a  religion  of  the  laity 
which  then  gained  the  victory. 

We  have  greater  justification  for  describing  the  posi- 
tion represented  by  the  ecclesiastical  historian  Socrates  ^ 
as  a  theology  with  definitely  lay  characteristics.  In 
fact,  an  ant i -clerical,  indeed — so  far  as  it  was  possible  at 
that  time — an  undogmatic,  type  of  Christianity  here 
makes  its  appearance,  and  the  Byzantine  lawyer  would 
not  have  expressed  himself  so  unreservedly  if  a  large 
number  of  persons  had  not  shared  in  his  opinions. 
But  this  position  has  no  direct  connection  with  the 
Bible.  It  was  not  deduced  from  the  educated  layman's 
study  of  the  Bible,  but  was  due  to  the  influence  of 
Oricren  and  his  school,  as  Socrates  himself  testifies. 
The  theology  of  Origen  had  evoked  among  the 
educated  laity  a  type  of  "liberar'  Christianity  which 
1   Fide  my  article  in  the  2nd  edition  of  Hauck's  Encyclopaedia. 


142  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

held  itself  aloof  from  sacerdotal  and  dogmatic  disputes — 
similar,  indeed,  to  that  type  which  came  into  being 
last  century  under  the  influence  of  the  rationalistic 
movement  and  the  philosophy  of  Hegel  and  Schleier- 
macher.  In  both  instances  the  private  use  of  Holy 
Scripture  played  absolutely  no  part,  and  in  the  second 
and  third  generations  the  study  even  of  the  writings  of 
theologian  and  philosopher  only  to  the  very  slightest 
degree  contributed  to  a  result  which  was  principally 
due  to  the  general  diffusion  of  their  ideas.  Since  we 
are  only  concerned  with  the  private  use  of  Holy 
Scripture,  we  are  not  called  upon  to  investigate  this 
Byzantine  type  of  lay  Christianity.  It  never  gave 
the  Church  much  trouble — unless,  indeed,  we  regard  the 
iconoclastic  movement  as  a  late  offshoot  from  it. 

Main  Conclusions 

1.  According  to  the  present  teaching  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  Holy  Scripture  is  the  property  of  the 
Church  as  a  body,  and  she — i.e.^  in  the  last  instance,  the 
Pope — is  bound  to  administer  this  property  dutifully 
according  to  her  discretion,  and  to  determine  how  and 
in  what  measure  Holy  Scripture  is  to  be  made  accessible 
to  the  individual  Christian.^    As  a  result  of  our  investiga- 

^  ' '  Holy  Scripture  is  not  of  itself  the  immediate  rule  of  faith  for 
the  individual  ;  it,  like  tradition,  is  only  mediated  to  the  individual 
by  the  official  ministry  of  the  Church.  To  this  ministry  is  committed 
the  whole  deposit  of  the  Faith,  whether  written  or  oral,  both  for  its 
own  use  and  to  be  imparted  to  the  faithful"  (Wetzer  und  Weltes' 
Kirchenlexicon,  Bd.  x.^  col.  1956). 


MAIN   CONCLUSIONS  143 

tion  we  see  that  this  claim  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
is  an  innovation.  Neither  in  the  first  three  centuries 
nor  in  the  fourth  was  the  Bible  in  any  sense  subordinate 
to  the  Church ;  accordingly,  we  cannot  discover  the 
slightest  trace  of  a  belief  that  the  relations  of  the  laity 
to  the  Holy  Scriptures  were  different  from,  and  more 
limited  than,  those  of  the  clergy,  or  of  any  authoritative 
episcopal  ordinance  restricting  laymen  in  their  reading 
of  the  Bible.  Such  authoritative  ordinances  as  are 
found  refer  only  to  the  distinction  to  be  made  between 
canonical  apocryphal  and  heretical  writings  ;  in  addition 
to  these  we  have,  of  course,  instances  of  advice  and 
guidance  being  given  with  a  view  to  instructing  the 
laity  as  to  the  best  method  of  reading  the  Bible. 
Holy  Scripture  and  the  Church  stood  side  by  side 
as  independent  entities.  The  Bible  belongs  to  the 
individual  in  the  same  sense  as  it  belongs  to  the  Church. 
Complication  first  came  in  when  it  was  taught  that 
Scripture  must  be  interpreted  in  accordance  with  the 
rule  of  faith,  yet  of  course  no  distinction  was  thereby 
created  between  clergy  and  laity  in  reference  to  the 
use  of  Holy  Scripture.^  Protestantism  has  thus  the 
testimony  of  the  Early  Church  on  its  side  in  not 
allowing  the  Church  to  dictate  the  relations  between 
the  individual  and  Holy  Scripture.  If  the  Church  of 
Rome    would  only  restrict  herself  to  giving  advice  or 

*  It  is  obvious  that  this  theory  in  actual  workiug  would  necessarily 
lead  to  the  subordination  of  Scripture  to  the  Church,  and  thus  to  the 
clergy  ;  but  we  cannot  here  dwell  further  upon  this  point. 


144  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

warning  in  regard  to  the  reading  of  the  Bible,  such 
an  attitude  could  be  reconciled  with  the  attitude  of 
the  Early  Church.  But  seeing  that  the  official  ministry 
of  that  Church  asserts  its  right  to  enact  binding 
ordinances  in  regard  to  the  use  of  Scripture,  and  thus 
to  bring  the  Scriptures  into  direct  subjection  to  itself,^ 
it  follows  that  the  claim  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
to  be  the  Church  of  unaltered  tradition  breaks  down 
in  this,  as  in  so  many  other  points. 

2.  What  has  been  said  implies  the  refutation  of 
Lessing's  ninth  thesis:  "The  layman  of  the  Early 
Church  might  not  even  read  the  separate  books  of  the 
New  Testament,  at  least  not  without  the  permission  of 
the  presbyter,  who  had  them  in  his  keeping.''  Lessing 
himself  afterwards  limited  his  thesis  to  the  first  three 
centuries ;  but,  as  we  have  seen,  it  is  as  false  for  the 
earliest  days  as  it  is  for  the  fourth  century.  Until 
about  the  end  of  the  second  century  no  New  Testament 
was  in  existence,  and  the  documentary  evidence  for  this 
century  is  not  very  extensive.  In  this  century,  however, 
so  far  as  concerns  the  Old  Testament,  the  situation  was 
not  different  from  that  in  the  third  and  fourth  centuries, 
which  means   that  the   practice  of  the  fourth   century 


^  The  later  Greek  Church,  as  in  so  many  instances,  has  in  practice 
followed  the  lead  of  the  Roman  Church  (yet  in  a  weak  and  half- 
hearted fashion)  ;  in  theory  her  attitude  is  equally  uncertain  ;  the 
"  Confessio  Dosithei,"  qu.  1  (Kimmel,  Monumenta  Fidei,  p.  465),  which 
adopts  entirely  the  Roman  position,  is  not  decisive  :  ToTs  /n^  yeyvfivacr- 
fxivois  .  .  .  .  7)  KadoXiK^  eKKh-naia  .  ...  oh  OefiiT^v  riju  avdyvwaiv 
ehai  ivreWerai,  soon  afterwards  we  read  "  d-n-TjyopeueTou" 


MAIN   CONCLUSIONS  145 

and  even  later  was  the  same  from  the  beginning. 
Lessing's  theory  is  not,  however,  only  partly  false,  it  is 
false  altogether  ;  for  laymen  not  only  might  read,  but 
they  actually  did  read,  Holy  Scripture ;  the  presbyters 
had  not  to  give  any  permission ;  the  Holy  Scriptures 
were  not  in  their  *'  keeping,''  but  were  accessible  to  all, 
and  were  in  the  hands  of  many  Christians.  Lessing's 
great  mistake  cannot,  however,  detract  from  the  undying 
service  he  has  rendered  in  a  much  more  important 
question,  in  that  he  perceived  that  the  New  Testament 
as  a  book  and  as  the  recognised  fundamental  document 
of  the  Christian  religion  originated  in  the  Church. 
But  Lessing  did  not  recognise  that  the  Book  from  the 
moment  of  its  origin  freed  itself  from  all  the  conditions 
of  its  birth,  and  at  once  claimed  to  be  an  entirely  in- 
dependent and  unconditioned  authority.  This  was  indeed 
only  possible  because  the  book  at  once  took  its  place 
beside  the  Old  Testament,  which  occupied  a  position  of 
absolute  and  unquestionable  independence  because  it 
was  more  ancient  than  the  Church.^ 

3.  The  proof  that  the  Bible  in  the  Early  Church  was 
not  a  secret  book  but  was  accessible  to  all,  and  was 
also  much  read  in  private,  involves  a  point  of  peculiar 

^  The  philosophic  historian  might  therefore  argue  as  follows  :— Seeing 
that  the  New  Testament  is  an  offspring  of  the  Church,  the  Church  of 
the  Middle  Ages  {i.e.  the  Council  of  Trent),  in  that  it  subordinated 
Scripture  to  the  Church,  only  did  away  with  the  fiction  that  the  New 
Testament  was  to  be  reverenced  and  treated  as  a  book  of  independent 
authority.  Thus,  though  the  Tridentine  decrees  did  not  restore  the 
ancient  tradition,  yet  they  took  up  the  true  historical  position  in  regard 

10 


146  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

importance ;  it  follows  that  the  religion  of  the  Early 
Church,  however  much  of  mystery  and  sacrament  it 
gradually  adopted,  was,  like  Judaism,  no  mystery- 
religion.  If  the  revelation  of  God — and  according  to 
Christian  ideas  the  Bible  included  practically  all  instances 
of  Divine  revelation — was  in  its  entirety  accessible  to 
all,  if  in  regard  to  this  revelation  the  priest  was  almost 
as  much  a  "layman"'  as  the  layman  himself,  if  no 
ecclesiastical  law,  no  clerical  interference  was  allowed  to 
come  between  God  speaking  in  the  Bible  and  the  soul 
of  him  who  listened  and  read,  then  the  religion  is  in 
principle  no  mystery-religion,  to  whatever  extent  it 
may  have  become  such  in  its  accessories.  That  it  was 
not  yet  a  mystery-religion  even  about  the  year  300  is 
shown  in  a  striking  way  by  the  origin  of  monasticism  ; 
that  it  still  preserved  its  essential  character  about  the 
year  400  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  monasticism  prevailed 
and  continued  to  increase  in  strength. 

If  it  is  asked  how  it  happened  that  Christianity  was 
able  to   preserve  in  principle  its   distinctive  character 

to  the  New  Testament,  a  position  which  lay  behind  tradition  and  was 
lost  sight  of  from  the  very  first.  But  this  train  of  argument  would 
only  be  conclusive  if  the  Tridentine  decrees  had  at  the  same  time  done 
away  with  the  doctrine  of  the  inspiration  of  the  book,  and  had  given 
scope  for  free  investigation  into  the  origin  of  the  Canon.  As  this  was 
not  done,  the  decrees  only  created  a  new  contradiction.  Thus  it  is  the 
free  theology  of  Protestantism  that  was  the  first  to  discover  the  correct 
historical  standpoint,  and  this  theology  declares — here  showing  itself 
more  Catholic  than  the  Pope  himself— that  the  New  Testament  qua  com- 
pilation is  an  offspring  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  is  nothing  else.  Its 
separate  parts  share,  of  course,  a  common  origin  with  the  Catholic 
Church,  all  springing  from  the  same  soil. 


MAIN   CONCLUSIONS  147 

and  to  defend  its  sacred  writings  from  the  encroachment 
of  the  priesthood  amid  a  world  of  mystery-religion, 
we  answer — it  was  because  Christianity  was  the 
daughter  of  Judaism  ;  it  was  because  Christianity,  in  so 
far  as  it  was  distinct  from  Judaism,  was  more  spiritual, 
more  lucid,  more  free,  more  universal,  more  simple  than 
that  religion  ;  and  because,  with  even  greater  energy 
than  Judaism,  it  strove  to  make  not  only  the  faith,  but 
also  the  sacred  discipline  of  the  life,  the  central  point 
of  its  system.  Soon,  indeed,  the  faith  and  the  cultus 
attracted  to  themselves  and  acquiesced  in  very  much 
that  belonged  to  the  mystery-religions,  but  the  essential 

'  characteristics  of  Christianity — the  belief  in  God  as  the 
Almighty  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  as  the  Father 
of  mankind,  as  the  Father  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  good 
news  addressed  to  all  men,  the  faith  in  the  Saviour  of 
the  world,  the  regula  disciplinae  for  a  new  humanity — 
all  these  fundamental  characteristics  could  not  possibly 
be  proclaimed  in  mysteries,  and  at  the  same  time 
implied  and  demanded  an  unrestricted  use  of  the  Bible. 
This  unrestricted  right  to  listen  daily  to  the  direct 
voice  of  God  might  have  proved  the  strongest  bulwark 
of  Christian  independence,  freedom,  and  equality,  and 
a  lasting  defence  against  complete  subjection  to  sacer- 
dotalism and  mystery.  But  as  time  went  on  the  laity 
made  less  and  less  use  of  their  privilege :  la  medwciite 

fonda  Paidorite ;  and  when  in  the  twelfth  century  a  lay 
Christianity  based  upon  the  private  reading  of  the 
Bible  struggled  into  the  light  of  day,  it  was  now  too 


148  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

late.  The  Church  of  priesthood  and  mystery — though 
even  then  it  had  not  altogether  become  this — was  now 
strong  enough  not  only  to  crush  this  development,  but 
also,  unencumbered  by  the  tradition  of  bygone  centuries, 
to  begin  to  take  measures,  at  first  cautiously  and 
tentatively,  with  a  view  to  withdrawing  the  Bible  from 
the  common  people.  Neither  then  nor  afterwards  did 
she  deal  thoroughly  and  decisively  with  this  question, 
because  half-measures  were  quite  sufficient,  and  because 
it  was  necessary  to  preserve  in  appearance  the  sovereignty 
and  the  publicity  of  the  Bible.  The  Reformation, 
however,  measured  by  the  standard  of  antiquity,  has 
one  of  its  chief  justifications  in  the  fact  that  it  has 
restored  the  Bible  to  the  common  people,  because  it 
recognised  the  complete  sovereignty  and  publicity  of 
Holy  Scripture  as  the  inspired  Word  of  God.  Now, 
indeed,  the  dogma  of  inspiration  can  be  no  longer 
upheld,  yet  all  that  is  Christian  in  these  fundamental 
historical  documents  must  be  preserved ;  in  power  for 
edification  no  other  book  comes  up  to  their  standard, 
and  no  creed,  no  Church,  has  the  right  to  decide  what 
they  contain  and  what  they  teach. 


APPENDIX 

(to    note    4    UPON    PAGE    126) 

Gregory  of  Nyssa  relates  that  at  feasts  and  marriage- 
festivals  it  was  customary  to  extract  amusement  from 
the  Psalms.  The  "Cenae"  (Table-Talk),  like  the 
"  Cena  Cypriani "  of  the  fourth  or  fifth  century,  and 
cursory  remarks  of  Zeno  of  Verona  (Tract,  ii.  38), 
afford  other  instances  of  similar  use  of  the  Bible.  The 
object  was  to  imprint  passages  from  the  Bible  on  the 
memory,  to  make  them  amusing,  and  to  incite  to  Bible 
reading :  "  The  host  offers  you  from  his  table  precious 
bread  and  wine  that  he  has  brought  out  of  his  store- 
rooms. The  'three  young  men'  arrange  first  to  eat 
vegetables,  which,  to  make  them  more  palatable,  they 
sprinkle  with  the  salt  of  wisdom  ;  Christ  pours  oil 
upon  them  ;  Moses  prepares,  in  the  haste  in  which  it 
happened,  a  full-grown  lamb  of  the  first  year  ;  Abraham 
in  his  faith  a  fatted  and  well-dressed  calf;  Isaac  in  his 
innocence  brings  the  oil  and  the  wood ;  the  patient 
Jacob  offers  sheep  of  different  kinds  ;  Joseph  gives  corn 
of  all  kinds  if  anyone  has  want.  .  .  .  Noah,  the  host  of 

the  Ark,  refuses  nothing  that  is  asked  for.     Peter  the 

149 


150  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

fisherman  presents  rich  supplies  of  sea-fish  with 
wondrous  condiment.  Tobias  the  foreigner  prepares 
and  carefully  fries  the  entrails  of  the  fresh- water  fish. 
John,  the  humble  Forerunner  in  the  garment  of  camels' 
hair,  collects  honey  and  locusts  from  the  wilderness, 
and  so  forth.""  Cf.  Harnack,  Texte  u.  Unters.,  Bd.  xix., 
H.  3b,  1899;  Brewer  in  the  Ztschr.  f.  kathol  Theol, 
1904,  S.  92 ;  Hass,  Studien  z.  Heptateuchdichter 
Cyprian  (Berliner  Diss.),  1912.  Such  jests  and  riddles 
from  the  Bible  were  popular  in  pietistic  circles  even  in 
the  last  century,  and  were  intended  to  promote  Bible 
reading. 

H.  Achelis  {Das  Christentum  in  den  erst  en  drei 
Jahrhunde7ien^  ii.  p.  105  f.),  has  also  reminded  me  of 
Pseudo-Cyprian  (Novatian),  adv.  Jud.,  10  (Christian 
children  and  peasants  know  the  Bible  and  can  give 
instruction  in  the  Holy  Scriptures) ;  Euseb.,  De  Mart. 
Pal.,  11  (the  deacon  Valens  in  Jerusalem  knew  the 
whole  Bible  by  heart) ;  Can.  Hippolyti,  27  (every 
Christian  should  daily  study  the  Scriptures,  even  though 
he  has  already  heard  them  read  at  public  worship) ; 
also  of  the  constant  reading  of  the  Scriptures  by  the 
Therapeutae. 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS  QUOTED 


Cantic.  Cant.  :  30  f. 
I  Maccab.  i.  56  ff.  :  29. 
Baruch  ii.  29  :  78. 
St  Matt.  X.  24  :  58. 
Acts  ii.  17  ff.  :  32. 

viii.  28  :  30. 

xvii.  II  :  37. 
Ephes.  V.  19:  33. 
Coloss.  ii.  8  :  61. 

iii.  16  :  33. 

1  Tim.  iv.  13:  33. 

2  Tim.  iii.  15  :  33. 
Tit.  iii.  10  :  61. 

2  Peter  iii.  15  f.  :  31. 
2  John  10  :  61. 

Abercius  Inscription  :  55. 
Agape,  Chionia,  Acta  of  :  83. 
Ambrosius,    Praef.     in    psalm, 
enarr.  7  ff.  :   126. 

de  parad.  58  :   113. 

de  virginib.  iii.  4,  15  :   125. 
Amelius  :  77. 
Aristides,  Apol,  16  :  42. 
Amobius  i.  55  f.  :  78. 

ii.  6  :  78. 
Athanasius,    Festival    Epistle 

the  year  367  :  121  f. 
Athenagoras,  Suppl.  9:  44. 

Excerpta  Barocc.  :  43. 
Augustinus,   Confess,  vi.   11, 

36- 
Confess,  vni.  2,  4  :   II 3. 
,,        viii.  6,  14  :  99. 
,,        viii.  6,  15:  97. 


for 


Augustinus,  Confess,  viii.  12,  29  : 
36,  99,  101. 
de  doctr.  christ.  prol.  :   131  ff. 
,,      i.  39:   118. 

,.      ii.  5:  91. 
,,      ii.  8  f.  :   106. 
,,      ii.  9:   127. 
,,      ii.  II  :  47- 
Epist.  132:  119,  127. 
de  catech.  rud.  8,  9  :   115,  121. 
c.  Cresc.  iii.  26  :  80. 
Brevic,  coll.  die  iii.  c.  13:  81. 
Serm.  i.  in  ps.  36  :  99. 
Pseudo-Augustinus,  Quaest.  in  A. 

et  N.T. :   130. 
Barnabas,  Ep.  21,  6  :  39,  42. 

Concluding  chapters  :  38. 
Basilius,  Sermo   de  asc.  disc,  i  : 
106. 
Sermo  xx. :  106. 
Proaem.  de  iudic.  dei :   123. 
Epist.  296  :  122. 

Caesarius    of   Aries,    Sermo    141 

[Serm.  August.]:    124. 
Canon.  Hippolyti  27  :   150. 
Celsus,  apud  Orig.  i.  12  :  45. 
apud  Orig.  iii.  44  ff.  :  45. 

,,  vi.  I  f.  :  45,  70,  76  f. 

Chrysostomus,  zi/^^  Johannes  Chr. 
Clemens  Alex.,  Paed.  ii.  10,  96: 

55- 
Paed.  iii.  12,  87  :  56. 
Strom,  i.  7,  38  :  56. 

,,       vi.  15,  131  :  56. 


151 


152  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 


Clemens  Alex.,  Strom,  vii.  7,  49  : 
56. 

Strom,  vii.  16,  95  ff.,  97  ff.  :  56. 
Clemens  Rom.,  Ep.  i.  53  :  39. 

Ep.  ii.  14  :  40. 
Pseudo-Clemens,  de  virginit.  i.  10 : 
64. 

de  virginit.  ii.  6  :  64. 
Constit.  Apost.  iv.  11  :   123. 

vi.  27  :   102. 
Cyprianus,  de  zelo  16  :  55. 

ad  Donat,  15  :  65. 

Testim.  :  67,  137. 
Cyrillus  Hieros.,  Catech.  iv.  36: 
105,  121. 

Catech.  v.  12  :  138. 

Didache  i  ff.  :  37. 
Didascal.  Apost.  5  f.  :  59  f. 
Dionysius  Alex.,  ep.  ad  Philem.  : 

62. 
Dionysius  Cor.  apud  Euseb.  :  66. 

Ephraem  Syr.,  Sermo  iii.  de  fide  : 
81. 

Sermo  Ixx.  adv.  scrut.  :   129. 
Epiphanius,  h.  30,  11  :  113. 

Ancorat.  119  :  137. 
Eusebius,  h.  e.  vi.  2,  6  ff.  :  75, 

h.  e.  viii.  2  :  80. 

Mart.  Pal.  11,  13:  83,  150. 

Vita  Const,  iv.  36  f.  :  89. 

Praepar.  xii.  3  :  85. 
, ,        xii.  20  :  84. 

Felix,  Acta  :  80. 

Gregor  Naz.,  Orat.  ii.  :  30,  134. 

Carmen  xxxiii.  :   106. 
Gregor  Nyss.,  tract,  i.  in  psalm. 

inscr.  3  :  126. 
Gregor  Thaum.,  Paneg.  15  :  71. 

Hermas,  Vis.  ii.  4  :  38  f.,  64. 

Hierocles  :  76. 

Hieronymus,   adv.    Rufin.    i,    9: 

77. 
Vita  Hilar.  35,  36,  44 :  99  f. 
in  Jesaj,  iv.  :   129. 


Hieronymus,   Epist.   22,  29.   30 : 

lOI, 

Epist.  22,  32  :  99. 
,,      30:  127. 

„      39  ••  127. 
,,      48,4:  114. 

„      53,  7:  5,  133- 
,,      S3,  10:  116. 

„      54,  II  :  123. 

,,      60,  10  :   116. 

,,      60,  II  :   loi. 

,,      70,  2  :  107. 

,,      71,  5:  100. 

,,       106,  I  :   130. 

,,       107  :    98,  99,   106,    122, 
127  f.,  130. 

,,       108,  19  :   126,  127. 

,,       108,  26:   127. 

,,       119,  II:  III,  133. 

,,       128,  I.  3  :    122. 

,,       130,  II  :   126. 

,,       130,  15:   127. 

,,       130,  17:  133. 
Hilarius,  de  trinit.  i.  5,  10  :   113. 
Hippolytus,  in  Daniel,  p.  34  :  65. 
in  Daniel,  p.  222  :  56. 
p.  338  :  46. 
apud  Euseb.,  h.  e.  v.   28,   15: 

65. 

Ignatius,  Ep,  ad  Ephes.  5  :  24. 

Ep.  ad  Philad.  8  :  40. 
Irenaeus  i.  10  :  46,  52. 

ii.  fin.  iii.  ff.  :  52. 

ii.  27,  2 :  52. 

".  27,  3  :  53- 
iii.  4  :  52. 

iii-  5  :  53. 
iv.  33,  I  :  54. 
iv.  33^  8  :  52. 
v.  20,  2  :  53. 
V.  30,  I  :  54,  66. 

Johannes   (Chrysostomus),    Hom. 
i.  de  Lazaro  :   1 19,  124. 
Hom.  iii.  de  Laz.  :  98,  loi,  118, 
125,  129. 

,,      de  util.  lect.  :  91,  116. 
,,      xix.  de  colum. :  loi,  121. 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS  QUOTED 


153 


Johannes   (Chrysostomus),    Horn. 

vi.  in  Genes. :    112. 
Horn.  xxi.  in  Genes.  :   118,  129. 

,,       ii.  in  Jesaj.  :  129. 

,,      ii.  in  Matth.  :   118,  126. 

,,       V.  in  IMatth.  :   124. 

,,       Ixx.  in  Mallh.  :    loi. 

,,      X.  in  Joh.  :  99. 

,,      xxxii.  in  Joh.  :  99,  118. 

,,      xxi.  in  Ephes.  :   123. 

,,       ix.  in  Coloss.  :  99. 

,,  Synops.  Script.  :  116. 
Josephus,  Antiq.  xx.  5,  4  :  30. 
Julianus    Imp.,    adv.    Christ,    p. 

204 :   106. 
adv.  Christ,  p.  206  :   115. 
Julius  Afric,  KeaTol:  86. 
Justinus,  Apol.  i.  28:  43. 
Apol.  i.  44  :  44- 

,,     ii.  3:  44. 
Dial.  I  fif.  :  57. 

,,     7  :  43. 
,,     10,  18:  44. 
M     73  :  65. 
Pseudo-Justinus,  Cohort.   35.    36. 
38  :  42. 
Orat.  ad  Gr.  5  :  42. 

Lactantius,  Inst.  v.  i  :  79. 
Inst.  V.  2  :  76,  78  ff. 

„     V.  2.  4  :  79. 

„     vi.  21  :  79. 
Epitome  57  (62) :  79. 

Melito,  apud  Euseb.  iv.  26,  13 :  38. 
Murat.  Fragm.  :  62,  64,  122. 

Novatianus,  de  bono  pud.  (fin.): 

55- 
de  spect.  10  :  60  f. 
adv.  Jud.  10:   150. 
Numenius :  77. 

Optatus  vii.    i   f.  :    81,  85,  87  f,, 

97,  102  f. 
Origenes,  Horn.   x.    i  in  Genes.  : 

69. 
Horn.  x.  2  in  Genes.  :  68. 

,,      xi.  3  in  Genes.  :  69. 


Origenes,  Horn.  xii.  5  in  Genes.  : 

69. 
Mom.  XV.  I  in  Genes.  :  70. 

,,       xii.  2  in  Exod.  :  69. 

,,       iv.  5  in  Levit.  :  71. 

,,       xi.  7  in  Levit.  :  69. 

,,      ii.  I  in  Num.  :  69,  71. 

,,      xxvii.  I  in  Num.  :  72. 

,,      viii.  I  in  Jesu  Nave  :  70. 

,,      XX.  I  in  Jesu  Nave:  69, 
74,  86  f. 
Proleg.    in  Cantic.   Cant.  :   31, 

72,  no. 
Comm.  X.  15  in  Matth.  :  74. 

,,       ix.  I  in  Rom.  :  70. 
de  princip.  iv.  i  :  70 ;  vide  also 

135. 
contra  Cels.  vi.  i  f.  :  70. 

Paraphilus  :  77- 

PauUnus  Nol.,  Carmen  xxiv.  265  f. , 
825  f.  :  100,  123. 
Ep.  16:   120. 
,,    32,  12  :   112. 
,,    ad  Celanciam  :   123. 
Paulus,    Sentent.    v.  tit.    21,  23: 

43- 
Pelagius  ad  Demetr.  :   123,  127. 
Polycarpus,  Ep.  12:  40. 

apud  Euseb.,  h.  e.  v.  20 :  61. 
Porphyrius,  apud  Macar.  Magn. 
iii.  5  :  64,  75  ff. 
philos.  ex  orac.  :  77. 
Priscillianus,  tract,  iii.   p.   44  ff.  : 

108  ff. 
Pseudo-Cyprian,  Cena :   149. 
Ptolemaeus  ad  Floram  :  37,  134  f. 

Scilitani  mart.  :  41  f. 

Seneca  und  St  Paul,  Epp.  :  78. 

Serapion  Antioch. ,  apud  Euseb., 

h,  e.  vi.  12 :  63. 
Socrates,  h.  e.  i.  9  :  104. 
h.  e.  i.  12  :  114. 
h.  e.  vi.  15  :   in. 
Stichometria  Mommseniana :  97. 
Sulpicius  Severus,  Vita  Mart.  26  : 
96. 
I       Chron.  i.  i  :  95. 


154  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 


Sulpicius   Severus,  Dial,  i.  6  f. 
66,  III. 
Dial.  i.  8  :  97. 
, ,     i.  23  :  96. 

„     i.  27  :  95- 
,,     111.  17  :  96. 

Tatianus,  Orat.  29 :  42. 

Orat.  33  :  43-  ^    ^^ 

Tertullianus,  de  praescr.  8  ft. 
I4ff.,4i  :  51. 

Apol.  31  :  56. 

de  testim.  i  :  57* 

de  spect,  29  :  61. 

de  corona  i  :  58. 

ad  uxor.  ii.  6  :  55. 


Tertullianus,  de  bapt.  17  :  62. 

de  exhort.  7  :   1 18. 

de  cult.  fem.  i.  3  :   iii. 

de  monog.  11,  12:   118. 

de  jejunio  ii  :  67. 
Theodoretus,    Graec.    affect,    cur. 
V.  :  90. 

h.  e.  i.  20 :  97. 
Theodos.  Codex  xvi.  5,  34  :   104. 
Theophilus,  ad  Aut.  i.  14  :  42. 

ad  Aut.  ii.  34  :  42. 

Vincentius,  Commonit.  i  fif. :  138. 

Zeno  Veron.  :  94,  149. 
Zenophilus,  Gesta  apud  :  82. 


Further  information  of  all  kinds  as  to  the  lectio  privata  can  be  ex- 
tracted from  the  following  passages  in  the  Epistles  of  St  Jerome  :  Ep.  5, 
2  ;  7,  2 ;  22,  17.  25  ;  29,  I  ;  31,  3  ;  34,  3  ;  38,  4  ;  43.  i  ;  43>  2.  3  ; 
45.  2 ;  50,  I.  3  ;  52,  7  ;  53,  i.  3-  6.  9 ;  54,  13  ;  S^,  6.  9 ;  60,  10  ;  65, 
2 ;  66,  9  ;  68,  2  ;  75,  4  ;  77,  7-  9 ;  79,  9  ;  84,  8 ;  125,  11.  15.  16  ; 
127,  4.  7  ;  128,  4  ;  130,  7.  20  ;  148,  14.  24. 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


Albigenses,  5. 
Allegorical  method,  1 1. 
Apocrypha    (of    the    Old    Testa- 
ment) suitable  for  beginners, 

Apocryphal    writings,   their    use, 

103  ff.,  107  f,,  no  f. 
Arius,  his  writings  prohibited,  104, 

107. 


Bellarmine,  5. 

Benedict    XIV.     and    the    prohi- 
bition of  Bible  reading,  5  f, 
Benedictio,  non  bona  dictio,  114. 
Bible,    the,    attacks  of  Porphyry 
and  Hierocles  against,  76  f. 
of  the  State,  80  f.  ;  regarded  by 

State  as  book  of  magic,  43. 
amusement   at    table   extracted 

from,  149  f. 
and  books  of  heathen  religions, 

84  ff. 
compilations  of  special  passages, 

137. 

copying  of,  36,  99  f.  ;  manu- 
scripts, 53  f. 

too  curious  searching  into,  70  f. 

difficulties  in  the  contents, 
style,  and  language  of,  45, 
69  f.,  76ff.,9S,  "3f- 

dogma  of,  8  ff. 

editions  of,  65  f. 

and  the  Emperors,  44. 

extracts   (books    oO    from    the 


Bible    intended    to    promote 
Bible  reading,  36  f. ,  67  f. 
Bible,  falsification  of,  65  f. 

ignorance  of,  dangerous  to 
the  soul,  85. 

injury  of  copies  through  neglect, 
102. 

intelligibility  of,  general,  37  f. , 
56,  71  f.,  etc.  ;  yet  requires 
interpretation,  75,  79,  130  f.  ; 
study  of,  necessary  for  all,  88  ; 
can  be  fully  understood  only 
by  the  "Gnostic,"  71  ;  even 
what  is  not  understood  has 
good  influence,  74,  87,  129  ; 
the  understanding  of  the 
Bible  is  the  end  of  education, 
75  ;  complaints  as  to  unin- 
telligibilily,  119;  consolatory 
considerations,  129  ;  good 
teachers  should  be  consulted 
about  difficulties,  129  f.,  etc.  ; 
methodical  instruction  and 
study  necessary  for  all,  131  ff. 

interest  in  Bible  growing 
among  heathen,  76  f.  ;  they 
recognise  many  good  points, 
77  ;  the  Bible  and  the 
heathen  public,  57  ;  van- 
quishes the  philosophical 
literature,  90  ff. 

interpreters,  self-taught,  danger- 
ous, 131  ff. 

laymen  as  fit  to  read  it  as 
clerics,  71  f. 


155 


156  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 


Bible,  literary  controversies   con- 
cerning, 78  f. 

market  value  of  copies,  35  f., 
96  ff. 

new  birth  through  the  Bible, 
70  ;  the  Bible  as  a  treasury, 
115;  as  an  instructor,  53,  69  ; 
as  thegreatest  public  revelation 
of  the  Divine  Will,  115  ;  not 
to  be  treated  as  God,  87  f.  ; 
the  second  creation,  84  ;  the 
tool  for  every  Christian,  98  ; 
not  to  be  touched  in  certain 
sexual  conditions,  102. 

not  regarded  as  an  obscure  book, 
■^']  ;  explanation  of  its  obscu- 
rity, 72. 

not  regarded  as  a  secret  book, 
27  f. ,  56  f.,  71  f.  ;  meant  for 
all,  78  f.,  113  (to  be  read  by 
Jews  and  heathen),  135  f. 

not  regarded  like  the  Koran,  45. 

plagiarism,  supposed,  from 
Plato,  77. 

means  for  preservation  of 
copies  of,  34  f.,  81  f.,  100  f. 

takes  place  of  profane  literature, 
58  ff. 

prohibition  of  the  Bible  among 
Catholics,  1-8. 

Protestant  conception  of,  i  ff. , 
8f. 

reverence  due  to  copies  of, 
81  f.,  loi. 

scarcity  of  copies  of,  33,  117  f. 

sumptuous  copies  of,  99. 

superstitious  use  of,  86  ff.,  loi  f., 
129. 

surrender  oi{fraditio),  81  f.,  102. 
Bible   readers,    a  kind   of   philo- 
sophers, 85  ;  peasants,  150. 

women    ' '  Bible     readers  "    all 
probably  deaconesses,  25. 
Bible    reading,    not    yet    recom- 
mended in   the  New   Testa- 
ment, 33,  38. 

fruit  of,  115  f. 

useless  according  to  Julian,  115. 

and  prayer,  55  f.,  65,  69,  etc. 


Bible  reading,  at  home,  55  f.,  58  f., 

66  f.,  68  f.,  75,  83  f.,98  f., 

112,  117,  1231,  149  f. 
compensated     for     by     public 

lection  in  cases  of  necessity, 

98  f. 
daily  and  continuous,  69  f. ,  74  f*  > 

84f.,ii5fM  123,  150- 
because   one  should   every  day 

hear  God's  voice,  65. 
fixed   times  and  hours  for,  56, 

68  f.,  123  ff. 
in  Bible  classes,  62,  ff.,  83. 
to   be   combined  with  learning 

by  heart,  75,  83  f.,  122,  125, 

ISO- 
progressive    course   of,    72    f.> 

115  f.,  122  f.,  127  f.,  134. 
excuses  against,  117  ff. 
difficulties  and  dangers  of,  1 13  f. ; 

conceit,    pride,    contempt   of 

theology,  130  ff. 
even   children    should   make   a 

beginning,  84.  122  f.,  149  f. 
importance  in  elementary  edu- 
cation  and  in  spreading  the 

art  of  reading,  85  f. 
in  special  rooms  near  the  church, 

122. 
laymen   say  that  it  belongs   to 

monks,  94,  1 17  f,,  126. 
of  monks  and  nuns,  106  f. ,  1 16  f., 

123,  125  f.,  129  f. 
more  necessary  for  laymen  than 

for  monks,  118. 
leads  to  monasticism,  69,  117. 
is  dreary,  69  f. 
is  not  necessary  for  those  who 

have  arrived   at  the  highest 

degree     of    spirituality,    93, 

139  f. 
less  frequent  with  Latins  than 

with  Greeks,  93  ff. 
whether     controlled      by     the 

clergy,  53  f. 
nothing  to  be  read   except  the 

Bible,  106  f. 
after  supper,  119,  124. 
before  the  chief  meal,  56. 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


157 


Bible  reading,  at  table,  124. 
the   Sunday   lessons  should  be 
read    at     home    before    and 
after  service,  124. 
warnings    against    reading    too 

much  infrequent,  125. 
yet    Bible    reading   should    not 
be   ad    laboreni    but    ad  de- 
kctationcm^  127, 
Biblical  names,  in  the  elementary 

instruction  of  children,  122. 
Biblical  theology  open  to  laymen, 

134  ff- 
Books,     lists   of,  for   booksellers, 

97  f. 

heathen,    should     be    avoided, 
58  ff. 

theological,    dedicated    to    lay- 
men,  66 ;    addressed    to    all 
Christians,  67  f. 
Booksellers,  96  ff. 

Canticles  of  Bible  learned  by  heart 
by  children,  84,  126. 

Catechumens  intended  to  read 
the  Bible,  121. 

Church,  Early,  not  so  clerical  as 
the  Middle  Ages,  136. 

Churches  without  literature,  46, 
.52., 

Circulation  of  devotional  litera- 
ture, 96  f. 

Conventicles,  Christian,  39,  45, 
63  f.,  83,  112. 

Creed  and  Bible,  1 1  ff.,  23  ff.,  49  ff., 

137  ff. 
Cyprian,  works  of,  almost  as 
authoritative  as  the  Bible, 
97  f.,  128. 
according  to  Lactantius,  does 
not  use  the  Bible  wisely  in 
his  apologetics,  79. 

Disciplinary  procedure   in  regard 

to  Bible  reading,  31  f. 
Dosistheus,  Confessio,  144. 

Edifying  works  to  be  read  with 
and  after  the  Bible,  124,  128. 


Esther,  Book  of,  suited  for  the 
beginner,  73,  122. 

Eunomians,  their  writings  pro- 
hibited, 104. 

Ezekiel,  some  chapters  not  for 
beginners,  72. 

Genesis,    first     chapter     not    for 

beginners,  72. 
Gnostics,  controversy  with,    does 

not    lead    to    withdrawal    of 

Bible  from  laity,  48  ff. 
Goeze,  13  f. 
Gospels,  passages  of  the,  worn  as 

charms,  lOi  f. 

Heretics,  books  of,  not  to  be  read, 

61  f.,  103  ff. 
Hermas,  suitable  for  the  beginner, 

122. 
Hierocles,  76  f. 

Index  librorum  prohibitorum,  5. 

Innocent  III.,  5. 

Interpretation,  court  of,  for  the 
Bible,  9  ;  impossible  to  in- 
terpret an  inspired  book,  9. 

Interpreters,  self-taught,  rejected 
and  reproved,  130  ff. 

Jansenists,  6. 

Jewish  Christians,  their  use  of  the 

Bible  the  same  as  that  of  the 

Jews,  32. 
Judaism  and  private  Bible  reading, 

28  ff. 
Judith,  suitable  for  the  beginner, 

73.  122. 
Julian    forbids   the   Christians   to 

have    anything    to    do    with 

Greek  literature,  106. 

Knowledge  of  the  Bible  =  to  be 
taught  of  God,  84,  137,  etc. 

Laity,  interest  in  the  Bible,  37  f.  ; 

no  separate  lay-theology,  I40ff. 
Lectio   sine   falsatione,   52  ;   fides 

in  lectione,  84  f. 


158  BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 


Lections,  112,  124,  150. 

Lectors,  professional,  63  f.  ;  read- 
ing aloud,  112. 

Lessing,  8,  13-27,  80,  144  f. 

Leviticus,  not  suitable  for  the 
beginner,  73. 

Libraries  in  churches,  82,  103  f., 
112. 

Literature,  heathen,  to  be  dis- 
placed by  the  Bible,  but  no 
formal  prohibition  before  Con- 
stantine,  58  ff.,  106  ff.  (vary- 
ing attitude  of  Christians). 

Luther,  12  ;  translation  of  Bible,  9. 

Married  people  ought  to  read  the 
Bible  together,  55. 

New  Testament  :  those  who  cannot 
buy  a  complete  Bible  should 
acquire  a  New  Testament,  99  ; 
it  makes  one  an  angel,  the 
Old  Testament  makes  one  a 
man,  116. 

Numbers,  book  of,  not  for 
beginners,  73. 

Occult  writings,  53. 

Old  Testament,  the,  warning  not 
to  read  only  the  New,  74 ; 
among  the  Jews  belonged  to 
the  school,  the  home,  the 
individual,  28  ff.  ;  affords  diffi- 
culties, 113;  still  remained 
in  the  foreground  in  religious 
edification,  40  f. 

Oracles  from  the  Bible,  loi  f. 

Origen,  the  youthful  reader  of  the 
Bible,  75  ;  his  writings  pro- 
hibited, 107,  III. 

Papyrus  and  parchment,  35. 
Peasantry  do  not  read  the  Bible, 

121. 
Piderit,  26  f. 
Pius   IV.  and   the  prohibition  of 

the  Bible,  5. 
Pius  VL,  26. 


Porphyry,  75  ff.  ;  his  writings  pro- 
hibited, 104. 

Presbyters,  whether  the  reading 
of  the  Bible  stood  under  their 
oversight,  14  ff.,  53  f. 

Priscillian  and  the  Apocrypha, 
108  ff. 

Proof  from  the  Bible,  48  ff.,  67. 

Psalmi  et  lectio,  126;  amusement 
derived  from  the  psalms  at 
feasts  and  marriage  suppers, 
126. 

Psalms,  the,  learned  by  children 
for  reward,  122;  their  special 
importance,  122,  126  f. 

Punic  Bible,  a,  never  existed,  93. 

Purification,  Jewish  law  of,  in- 
fluence upon  the  Church, 
102. 

Quaestiones,  130. 

Regula  fidei  et  disciplinae,  20,  24, 

28. 
Revelations,    prophetic,    how  the 

knowledge     of     these     was 

spread,  38  f. 

Semler,  15  ff. 

Septuagint,  the,  9. 

Sirach,  suitable  for  beginners, 
122. 

Song  of  Solomon,  the,  not  deli- 
vered to  the  young  by  the 
Jews,  31  ;  to  be  handled 
discreetly,  72. 

State,  the  Roman,  protects  the 
Old  Testament,  30. 

Stichoi,  97. 

Symbol,  vide  Creed. 

Table-talk  extracted  from  the 
Bible,  149  f, 

Taedium  verbi  divini,  69,  74,  88. 

"Teaching  of  the  Apostles," 
suitable  for  beginners,  122. 

Theology,  the,  of  the  Church  is 
Biblical,  134;  is  strictly  ex- 
oteric, 135  ff. 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


159 


Therapeutae,  the,  150. 

Tobit,     book     of,      suitable     for 

beginners,  73,  122. 
Tractatio  plenissima  scripturarum, 

52. 
Traditores,  80  ff. 

Translation  :  impossible  to  trans- 
late an  inspired  book,  9. 
of  the  Bible  by  the  Jews   into 

Latin  and  Syriac  improbable, 

46  f. 
of  the  Gospels  into  Latin  and 

Syriac  in  the  second  century, 

46  f. 
Translations,  3  f. ,  86,  91  ff. 
attitude  of  the  Roman  Church 

towards,  3  ff. 
Trent,  Council  of,  and  prohibition 

of  the  Bible,  5,  9. 

Unigenitus,  Bull,  6. 


Vulgata,  4,  6,  9,  94. 


Walch  against  Lessing,  16-27  "> 
Walch  involved  in  an  attempt 
to  promote  reunion  with 
Catholicism,  26  f. 

Waldenses,  5. 

Wisdom  of  Solomon,  suitable  for 
beginners,  73,  122. 

Women,  old  and  young,  to  read 
the  Bible  only,  107,  122  f.  ; 
pious  and  gifted  women  are 
advised  to  learn  Hebrew, 
and  follow  the  advice, 
126. 

Words,  sacred,  their  very  sound 
is  efficacious  ;  magical  use  of 
the  Bible,  74,  86  f. 

Writings,  occult,  the  Church  has 
none,  52  f. 


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8      BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

observation,  yet  still  nothing  was  done  to  meet  them  by 
means  of  restrictions  upon  reading — then  we  can  no 
longer  suppose  that  the  Catholic  Church  held  indeed  at 
that  time  the  same  views  concerning  the  Holy  Scriptures 
as  it  does  to-day,  but  that,  oblivious  of  its  duty,  it  did  not 
put  them  into  force.  We  must  rather  conclude  that 
during  that  long  period  of  many  centuries  the  Church 
was  convinced  that  every  individual  Christian  had  a 
right  to  the  Bible,  and  that  it  did  not  belong  to  the 
Church  to  restrict  this  right. 

II 

Lessing,  by  his  controversy  with  Goeze,  has  earned  the 
immortal  glory  of  having  broken  the  spell  of  the  dogma 
of  the  Bible.  Under  this  dogma  Protestantism  suffered 
in  yet  higher  degree  than  Catholicism.  We  can  to-day 
scarcely  imagine  with  what  crushing  weight  this  dogma 
pressed  upon  religion,  upon  the  spheres  of  historical 
investigation  and  all  other  realms  of  culture,  while  its 
spell  still  prevailed  unbroken ;  indeed,  even  those  theo- 
logians who  imagine  that  they  still  hold  fast  to  this 
dogma  have  no  suspicion  how  the  bells  sounded  before 
they  were  cracked!  In  their  looser  theological  argu- 
ments they  in  some  places  make  play  with  the  doctrines 
of  the  inspiration,  infallibility,  clearness,  and  sufficiency 
of  Holy  Scripture  ;  in  a  hundred  other  places  they  know 
nothing  of  these  formidable  things,  and  they  make  use 
of  the  freedom  which,  since  Lessing,  has  pressed  forward 
in   irresistible   progress.     In   earlier   times  theologians 


INTRODUCTION  9 

were  much  more  logical  than  their  orthodox  successors ; 
they  knew  what  it  meant  to  possess  an  inspired  book, 
and  what  demands  such  a  possession  implied. 

It  is  true  that  even  they  were  not  fully  conscious  of 
this ;  even  they  allowed  themselves  to  make  deductions  ; 
otherwise  sense  and  reason  would  have  broken  down.^ 

^  They  attenuated  and  in  a  hundred  instances  did  not  draw  the 
conchisions  which  resulted  from  the  nature  of  a  divine  book.  In  a 
hundred  instances  they  treated  it  as  an  ordinary  book  because  it  was 
simply  impossible  to  draw  all  the  conclusions  implied  by  the  divine 
character  of  a  book.  Is,  for  example,  such  a  book  translatable  ?  The 
Alexandrian  Jews  at  least  were  logical  enough  to  see  that  it  was 
impossible,  and  indeed  blasphemous,  for  men  to  do  this.  They  there- 
fore made  a  virtue  of  necessity  and  straightway  claimed  that  their 
translation  also  was  inspired.  The  Roman  Church  could  not  be  so 
bold  ;  but  the  ambiguous  and  timid  decree  of  the  Council  of  Trent 
that  the  Vulgate  should  be  held  ^?ro  authcntica,  and  that  no  one  should 
dare  or  claim  to  reject  it,  runs  along  the  same  lines.  Also  in  the 
repugnance  which  large  circles  of  Lutherans  have  always  felt  to  any 
improvement  of  Luther's  translation  there  lies  a  grain  of  that  correct 
logic  according  to  which  the  authorised  version  of  the  sacred  volume 
must  have  stood  under  a  2^'ovidentia  Dei  specialissima,  if  it  was  to 
reproduce  correctly  the  wording  of  the  sacred  original.  Moreover,  an 
inspired  document  is  not  only  untranslatable  without  the  same  divine 
assistance  that  created  it,  but  it  is  also  uninterpretable.  Catholicism 
is  therefore  absolutely  in  the  right  in  its  claim  that  the  power  of 
interpreting  Holy  Scripture  lies  only  in  the  Church,  which  alone  has 
the  promise  to  be  led  by  the  Holy  Spirit  into  all  truth.  Inspiration 
and  a  sacred  court  of  interpretation  necessarily  hang  together.  If 
Protestantism  substitutes  the  endowment  of  each  individual  Christian 
with  the  Holy  Spirit,  this  expedient  is  unsatisfactory  for  the  very 
reason  that  no  provision  is  made  for  the  case,  which  again  and  again 
recurs  with  each  passage  of  Scripture,  that  the  interpretations  are 
divergent.  Of  course  the  sacred  tribunal  of  interpretation  is  also  an 
impossibility  if  its  decisions  must  admit  the  control  of  philology  and 
grammar.  The  doctrine  of  inspiration  has  at  all  times  been  taken 
seriously  only  as  a  question  of  dogmatics  and  upon  paper,  and  as  such 
has  gained  simply  a  kind   of  phantom  existence.      In  practice,  its 


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26    BIBLE  READING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 

has  remained  untouched  during  the  130  years  that  have 
passed.  Walch  saw  what  was  right,  but  with  all  his 
learning  he  has  given  an  unsatisfactory  statement  of  the 
problem,  and  a  demonstration  that  is  unsatisfactory 
because  it  is  burdened  with  so  much  that  is  doubtful. 
We  are  accordingly  justified  in  taking  up  the  question 
afresh  and  submitting  it  to  a  thorough  examination  in 
order  to  bring  the  abortive  controversy  between  Lessing 
and  Walch  to  its  conclusion.  And  indeed  it  is  with 
joy  that  one  rushes  to  the  assistance  of  a  small  man 
where  he  is  in  the  right ;  it  is  still  the  great  man  who 
carries  off  the  palm  of  victory  in  the  main  battle.^ 

1  I  may  be  allowed  a  further  note  as  to  Walch's  attitude  as  a 
theologian.  While  I  was  engaged  in  this  treatise  the  Fuldaer 
Geschichtsbldtter,  10.  Jahrgang,  1911,  came  into  my  hands.  In  them 
S.  1  ff. ,  17  ff. ,  184  ff. )  Professor  Richter,  the  editor,  has  published  articles 
entitled :  "  Ein  Fuldaer  Plan  zur  Wiedervereinigung  der  christlichen 
Konfessionen  in  Deutschland."  On  10th  June  1780,  Pius  VI.,  in  a 
brief  addressed  to  the  Prince  Bishop  Henry  VIII.  of  Fulda,  bearing 
the  title  "Fuldaer  Plan"  or  "Fuldaer  Projekt,"  condemned  a  plan 
for  the  reunion  of  Christendom  in  Germany  that  had  been  the  subject 
of  careful  thought  and  discussion  in  the  Churches.  Richter  gives  a 
detailed  account  of  the  project,  according  to  the  records  of  Fulda  and 
other  material,  and  then  conclusively  shows  that,  though  the  plan 
found  support  among  the  Benedictines  of  Fulda,  it  did  not  originate 
in  Fulda  or  indeed  among  Catholics,  but  in  Protestant  circles.  The 
originator  was  Professor  Piderit  of  Kassel  (born  1720),  an  opponent  of 
rationalistic  Biblical  criticism,  which,  according  to  his  conviction, 
"overthrew  those  doctrines  upon  which  every  rightly  disposed 
Christian  had  hitherto  based  his  salvation."  Piderit  was  deeply 
moved  by  the  pitiful  condition  of  the  Protestant  Churches  in  con- 
sequence of  the  unrestrained  innovations  of  the  critics,  and  in  this 
mood  set  himself  to  work  for  the  reunion  of  the  Christian  sects  in 
the  German  empire.  After  consultation  with  the  Benedictines  of 
Fulda,  who  were  untouched  by  the  new  theories,  and  who  of  course 


INTRODUCTION  27 

III 

But  there  is  another  reason  for  devoting  special 
attention  to  the  question  of  the  private  use  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  in  the  Early  Church.  The  mystery-religions 
and  other  sacerdotal  cults,  in  so  far  as  they  possess 
sacred  writings,  treat  these  as  arcana,  and  either  deny 

upheld  the  doctrines  of  the  Divinity  of  Christ  and  of  the  Inspiration 
of  Holy  Scripture  in  their  integrity,  he  constructed  in  1779  his  plan 
of  reunion,  and  in  1781  published  it  anonymously.  Orthodox 
Protestantism  was  to  be  saved  by  reunion  with  Catholicism  !  Piderit 
naturally  sought  to  t\-in  over  confidentially  other  Protestant  theologians 
to  his  plan.  Bellisomi,  the  Papal  Nuncio  at  Cologne,  in  a  notice  dated 
27th  April  1780,  mentions  that  Walch  of  Gottingen,  Leitz  of  Marburg, 
and  three  others  had  been  won  over  (Richter,  S.  187).  Actually 
Walch  !  and  that  in  1779,  the  very  year  of  the  appearance  of  his 
Critical  Investigation,  which  we  have  been  discussing.  In  the 
preface  of  this  treatise  (S.  6)  Walch  gives  expression  to  the  same 
anxiety  in  the  presence  of  the  flood  of  rationalistic  opinions  which 
had  moved  Piderit:  "May  the  Lord,  who  has  given  us  His  Word, 
preserve  and  guard  it  against  all  attempts  to  wrest  it  from  the  hands 
of  the  faithful  or  to  make  it  contemptible  in  their  eyes."  But  hitherto, 
so  far  as  I  know,  there  has  been  no  suspicion  that  Walch  did  not 
trust  solely  to  the  power  of  the  Word  itself,  but  also  looked  round 
for  assistance  from  Catholicism.  What  an  extraordinary  position  for 
Protestantism !  On  the  one  hand  Lessing  deals  Protestantism  a 
fearful  blow  in  that  he  plays  off  the  regula  fidei  against  the  Scriptures, 
and  so  approaches  a  fundamental  doctrine  of  Catholicism,  while 
Walch  secretly  allies  himself  with  a  circle  which  would  save  orthodox 
Protestantism  by  reunion  with  Catholicism  !  Nicolai,  with  his  sus- 
picions of  Jesuitism,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  so  mistaken  after  all. 
But  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  situation  was  not  really  so  dangerous  ; 
for,  closely  regarded,  Lessing's  thesis  was  far  more  dangerous  to 
Catholicism  than  to  Protestantism,  and  schemes  for  reunion  were 
then  (1780),  as  to-day,  merely  Utopian,  as  was  proved  by  the  attitude 
of  the  Pope.  The  outcome  of  the  scheme  may  be  read  in  Richter's 
articles.  It  is  not,  however,  pleasant  to  know  that  a  man  like  Walch 
was  secretly  mixed  up  with  it. 


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74.  A  History  of  Freedom  of  Thought.    By  Prof  J.  B.  Bury, 
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Vol.  I.  Text,  Parts  I.  and  II.  Vol.  II.  Translation,  Parts  I. 
and  II.     84s.  net. 

The  Canons  of  Athanasius  of  Alexandria,  in  Arabic, 
Ethiopic,  and  Coptic.  Edited  and  translated  by  Prof.  W. 
Riedel  (Griefswald)  and  W.   E.    Crum.     2 is.   net. 

A  Rabbinic  Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Job,  contained 
in  a  unique  MS.  at  Cambridge.  Edited,  with  Translation 
and  Commentary,  by  W.  Aldis  Wright,  LL.D.     21s.  net. 

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Easter,  the  former  incompletely  preserved  in  Greek,  the  latter 
unknown  in  Greek  or  Latin.  All  edited,  with  English  versions, 
etc. ,  by  F.  C.  Conybeare,  formerly  Fellow  of  University  College, 
Oxford. 

Remnants  of  the  Later  Syriac  Versions  of  the  Bible.  Part 
I.  (Sixth  Century).  The  Four  Minor  Catholic  Epistles.  Recon- 
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Coptic  Texts  on  St  Theodore  the  General,  St  Theodore 
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Burkitt.     2 IS.  net. 

THEOLOGICAL  TRANSLATION  LIBRARY. 

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ACTIONS AND  PROCEEDINGS  OF  LEARNED 
SOCIETIES  published  by  Williams  &  Norgate. 

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scription,  los.  per  annum,  post  free. 

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CATALOGUE  OF  PUBLICATIONS.  43 

List  of  Periodicals,  Reviews,  etc.— (Oiin'micd. 

Journal  of  the  Federated  Malay  States  Museums.  Issued 
quarterly.  Single  numbers,  Is.  6d.  net.  Subscription,  5s.  per 
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annum,  post  free. 

Linnean  Society  of  London.  Journal  of  Botany  and  Journal 
of  Zoology.  Published  irregularly  at  various  prices.  Also  Trans- 
actions, published  irregularly. 

Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh.  Transactions.  Issued  irregu- 
larly at  various  prices. 

Liverpool  Marine  Biology  Committee.  Memoirs.  I. -XIX. 
already  published  at  various  prices.  Fauna  of  Liverpool  Bay. 
Fifth  Report,  vv^ritten  by  Members  of  the  Committee  and  other 
Naturalists      Cloth.     8s.  6d.  net.     See  p.  39. 

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L' Arbitrage  International  chez  les  Hellenes.  Par  A.  Raedar. 
4to.  IDS.  net.  Vol.  II.  Les  Bases  Economiques  de  la  Justice 
Internationale.      By  Achille  Loria.     3s.  6d.  net. 

Royal  Irish  Academy.  Transactions  and  Proceedings  issued 
irregularly;  prices  vary.  Cunningham  Memoirs.  Vols.  I. -XI. 
already  issued  at  various  prices.     See  p.  31. 

Royal  Dublin  Society.  Transactions  and  Proceedings.  Issued 
irregularly  at  various  prices. 


14  Henrietta  Street,  Covent  Garden,  London,  W.C. 


INDEX   OF  TITLES. 


Acts  of  the  Apostles.     Adolf  Harnack,  ii. 
Acts.  The  Date  of  the.     Adolf  Harnack,  ii. 
Aeroplane,  How  to  Build.     Robert  Petit,  23. 
Africa,  The  Opening  Up  of.  Sir  H.  H.  Johnston, 

14. 
Agricultural  Chemical  Analysis.     Wiley,  32. 
Agriculture.     Prof.  W.  Somerville,  28. 
Alchemy  of  Thought,  and  other  Essays.     Prof. 

L.  P.  Jacks.,  14. 
Alcyonium.     Vide  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs,  39. 
America,     Great     Writers     of.       Trent     and 

Erskine,  7,  31. 
American  Civil  War,  The.    Prof.  F.  L.  Paxson, 

20. 
Americans,  The.     Hugo  Miinsterberg,  21. 
Among  the  Idolmakers.     Prof.  L.  P.  Jacks,  13' 
Analysis  of  Ores.     F.  C.  Phillips,  21. 
Analysis,  Organic.     F.  E.  Benedict,  2. 
Analytical  Geometry,  Elements  of.     —  Hardy 

II. 
Anarchy    and     Law,    Theories     of.       H.    B. 

Brewster,  3. 
Ancient  Art  and  Ritual.     Harrison,  12. 
Ancient  Asia  Minor,  Wall  Map  of,  16. 
Ancient   Assyria,    Religion   of.     Prof.   A.    H. 

Sayce,  26. 
Ancient  Greece,  Wall  Map  of,  16. 
Ancient  Italy,  Wall  Map  of,  16. 
Ancient  Latium,  Wall  Map  of,  16. 
Ancient  World,  Wall  Maps  of  the,  15. 
Anglican  Liberalism,  i. 

Animal  World,  The.     Prof.  F.  W.  Gamble,  9. 
Antedon.     Vide  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs,  39. 
Anthems.     Rev.  R.  Crompton  Jones,  14. 
Anthropology.     R.  R.  Marett,  19. 
Antwerp  and  Brussels,  Guide  to,  10. 
Anurida.     Vide  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs,  39. 
Apocalypse  of  St.  John,  40. 
Apologetic  of  the  New  Test.     E.  F.  Scott,  27. 
Apostle  Paul,  the,  Lectureson.    Otto  Pfleiderer, 

23- 

Apostolic  Age,  The.  Carl  von  Weizsacker,  32. 
Arabian  Poetry,  Ancient.  Sir  C.  J.  Lyall,  19. 
Architecture.     Prof.  W.  R.  Lethaby,  18. 


Arenicola.     Vide  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs,  39. 
Aristotelian  Society,  Proceedings  of,  22. 
Army  Series  of  French  and  German  Novels,  33. 
Ascidia.     Johnston,  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs,  39. 
Assyriology,  Essay  on,     George  Evans,  8. 
Astigmatic  Letters.     Dr  Pray,  24. 
Astronomy.     A.  R.  Hinks,  13. 
Athanasius  of  Alexandria,  Canons  of,  37. 
Atlas  Antiquus,  Kiepert's,  17. 
Atlas,    Topographical,    of    the    Spinal    Cord. 

Alex.  Bruce,  4. 
Atonement,  Doctrine  of  the.    AugusteSabatier, 

25- 

Auf  Verlornem  Posten.     Dewall,  33. 
Avesti,  Pahlavi.     Persian  Studies,  i. 
Babel  and  Bible,     Friedrich  Delitzsch,  6. 
Bacon,  Roger.     "Opus  Majus"  of,  2. 
Basis  of  Religious  Belief.     C.  B.  Upton,  31. 
Beet-Sugar  Making.     Nikaido,  21. 
Beginnings  of  Christianity.     Paul  Wernle,  32. 
Belgium,  Practical  Guide  to,  10. 
Belgium  Watering  Places,  Guide  to,  10. 
Bergson's  Philosophy.     Balsillie,  2;  Le  Roy, 

18. 
Bible.     Translated  by  Samuel  Sharpe,  3. 
Bible,    a   Short    Introduction   to,    Sadler,   23 ; 
Bible   Problems,    Prof.    T.    K.    Cheyne,    5  ; 
How  to  teach  the.  Rev,  A.  F.  Mitchell,  20 ; 
Remnants  of  Later  Syriac  Versions  of,  37. 
Bible   Reading   in   the  Early  Church,     Adolf 

Harnack,  11. 
Biblical  Hebrew,  Introduction  to.     Rev.  Jas. 

Kennedy,  16, 
Biology,  Principles  of.     Herbert  Spencer,  28. 
Blaise  Pascal.     Humfrey  R.  Jordan,  15. 
Book  of  Prayer,     Crompton  Jones,  15. 
Books  of  the  New  Testament.     Von  Soden,  27. 
Britain,  B.C.     Henry  Sharpe,  27. 
British  Fisheries.     J.  Johnstone,  14. 
Brussels  and  Antwerp,  Guide  to,  lo. 
Buddhism.     Mrs  Rhys  Davids,  6. 

Calculus,    Differential    and    Integral.       Axel 
Harnack,  12. 


14  Henrietta  Street,  Covent  Garden,  London,  W.C. 


CATALOGUE  OF  PUBLICATIONS. 


45 


Canada.     A.  G.  Bradley,  3. 
Cancer.     Vide  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs,  37. 
Cancer  and  other  Tumours.   Chas.  Creighton,  5. 
Canonical     Books     of    the     Old     Testament. 

Cornill,  5. 
Cape  Dutch.     J.  F.  Van  Oordt,  aa. 
Cape  Dutch,  Werner's  Elementary  Lessons  in, 

32- 
Capri  and  Naples,  Guide  to,  lo. 
CaptainCartwrightand  his  Labrador  Journal,  4. 
Cardium.     yide  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs,  39. 
Catalogue  of  the  London  Library,  \j. 
Celtic  Heathendom.     Prof.  J.  Rhys,  25. 
Channing's  Complete  Works,  4. 
Chants  and   Anthems,    i>;    Chants,    Psalms, 

and  Canticles.     Crompton  Jones,  15. 
Character  and  Life,  4. 
Chemical  Dynamics,  Studies  in.     J.  H.  Van't 

Hoff,  13. 
Chemistry.     Prof.  Meldola,  20. 
Chemistry,  Elementary.     Emery,  7. 
Chemistry  for  Beginners.     Edward  Hart,  11. 
Chemist's  Pocket  Manual,  20. 
Child  and  Religion,  The,  5. 
China,  The  Civilisation  of.    Piof.  H.A.Giles,  9. 
Chinese.     Descriptive  Sociology'.     Werner,  27. 
Chondrus.     Vide  L.^LB.C.  Memous,  39. 
Christian  Life,  Ethics  of  the.  Chas.  F.  Dole,  10. 
Christian  Life  in  the  Primitive  Church.     Dob- 

schiitz,  7. 
Christian  Religion,  Fundamental  Truths  of  the. 

R.  Seeberg,  25. 
Christianity,  Beginnings  of.     Paul  Wernle,  32. 
Christianity   in    Talmud    and    Midrash.      R. 

Travers  Herford,  12. 
Christianity?  What  is.     Adolf  Harnack,  11. 
Chromium,  Production  of.     Max  Leblanc,  18. 
Church  History.     Baur,  2  ;  Schubert,  24. 
Civilisation  of  China.     H.  A.  Giles,  9. 
Climate  and  Weather.     H.  N.  Dickson,  6. 
Closet  Prayers.     Dr.  Sadler,  23. 
Codium.     Vide  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs,  39. 
Collected  Writings  of  Seger,  27. 
Colonial  Period,  The.     C.  M.  Andrews,  i. 
Coming  Church.     Dr  John  Hunter,  14. 
Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Job,     Ewald,  7  ; 

Wright  and  Hirsch,  30  ;  Commentary'  on  the 

Old   Testament.      Ewald,   7  ;    Commentary 

on  the  Psalms.     Ewald,  7. 
Common-Sense  Dietetics.  C.  Louis  Leipoldt,  18. 
Communion  with  God.   Wilhelm  Herrmann,  12. 


Comparative    Religion.       Princ.    J.    E.    Car 

penter,  4. 
Conception  of  God.    Alviella,  i. 
Concrete,  Reinforced.     Colby,  5. 
Conductivity  of  Liquids.     Tower,  30. 
Confessions  of  St  Augustine.     Adolf  Harnack. 

II. 
Conservatism.     Lord  Hugh  Cecil,  4. 
Constitution  and  Law  of  the  Church,  Adolf 

Harnack,  11. 
Contes  Militaires.     A.  Daudet,  33. 
Copenhagen  and  Norway,  Guide  to,  10. 
Coptic  Texts  on  St.  Theodore.     E.   O.  Win- 

stedt,  32. 
Crime  and  Insanity.     Dr.  C.  A.  Mercier,  20. 
Crown  Theological  Library,  34. 
Cuneiform     Inscriptions,     The.         Prof.      E. 

Schrader,  26. 

Date,  The,  of  the  Acts  and  of  the  Synoptic 

Gospels.     Harnack,  11. 
DawTi  of  History,  The.     Prof.  J.  L.  Myres,  21. 
Delectus  Veterum.     Theodor  Noldeke,  20. 
Democracy  and  Character.    Canon  Stephen,  29. 
Democracy,  Socialism  and,  in  Europe.    Samuel 

P.  Orth,  22. 
De  Profundis  Clamavi.     Dr  John  Hunter,  14. 
Descriptive  Sociology'.     Herbert  Spencer,  26. 
Development  of  the  Periodic  Law.    Venable,  31. 
Differential  and  Integral  Calculus,  The.     Axel 

Harnack,  it. 
Dipavamsa,  The.     Edited  by  Oldenberg,  6. 
Doctrine  of  the  Atonement.     A.  Sabatier,  25. 
Dogma,  History  of.     Adolf  Harnack,  n. 
Dolomites,  The,  Practical  Guide  to,  10. 
Dresden  and  Environs,  Guide  to,  lo. 

Early  Hebrew  Story.     John  P.  Peters,  23. 
Early  Christian  Conception.  OttoPfleiderer,  23. 
Echinus.     Vide  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs,  36. 
Education.     Herbert  Spencer,  28. 
Education  and  Ethics.     Emile  Boutroux,  3. 
Egyptian  Faith,  The  Old.    Edouard  Naville,  21. 
Egyptian  Grammar,  Erman's,  7. 
Eighth  Year,  The.     Philip  Gibbs,  9. 
Electric  Furnace.     H.  Moisson,  20. 
Electricity.     Prof.  Gisbert  Kapp,  15. 
Electrolysis  of  Water.     V.  Engelhardt,  7. 
Electrolytic  Laboratories.     Nissenson,  22. 
Eledone.     Vide  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs,  39. 
Elementary  Chemi.stry.     Emery,  6. 


14  Henrietta  Street,  Covent  Garden,  London,  W.C. 


46 


WILLIAMS  &  NORGATE'S 


Elementary  Organic   Analysis.     F.   E.   Bene- 

diet,  2. 
Elements  of  English  Law.     W.  M.  Geldart,  9. 
Engineering  Chemistry.     T.  B.  Stillman,  30. 
England  and  Germany,  6. 
English  Language.     L.  P.  Smith,  27. 
English  Literature,  Mediaeval.     W.  P.  Ker,  16. 
English  Literature,  Modern.     G.  H.  Mair,  19. 
Enoch,  Book  of,  C.  Gill,  9. 
Ephesian  Canonical  Writings.     Rt.  Rev.  A.  V. 

Green,  9. 
Epitome    of    Synthetic    Philosophy.      F.    H. 

Collins,  4. 
Erzahlungen.     Hofer,  33. 
Essays  on  the  Social   Gospel.     Harnack  and 

Herrmann,  11. 
Essays.     Herbert  Spencer,  29. 
Ethica.     Prof.  Simon  Laurie,  17. 
Ethics,  Data  of.     Herbert  Spencer,  28. 
Ethics,  Education  and.     Emile  Boutroux,  3. 
Ethics.     G.  E.  Moore,  21. 
Ethics,  Principles  of.     Herbert  Spencer,  28. 
Ethics  of  the  Christian  Life.     Prof.  T.  Haering, 

10. 
Ethics  of  Progress,  The.     Chas.  F.  Dole,  6. 
Ethiopic  Grammar.     A.  Dillmann,  6. 
Eucken's   Philosophy,    An    Interpretation    of. 

W.  Tudor  Jones,  15. 
Euphemia  and  the  Goth.     Prof.  F.  C.  Burkitt, 

4,  40. 
Europe,  Mediaeval.     H.  W.  C.  Davis,  6. 
Evolution.     Thomson  and  Geddes,  30. 
Evolution   of  Industry.      Prof.    D.    H.  Mac 

gregor,  19. 
Evolution  of  Plants.     Dr.  D.  H.  Scott,  26. 
Evolution  of  Religion,  The.     L.  R.  Farnell,  7. 
Exploration,  Polar.     Dr  W.  S.  Bruce,  4. 

Facts  and  Comments.     Herbert  Spencer,  29. 
Faith  and  Morals.     W.  Herrmann,  11. 
Fertilisers,  Soil  Fertility  and.     Halligan,  10. 
First  Principles.     Herbert  Spencer,  28. 
First  Three   Gospels  in  Greek.     Rev.   Canon 

Colin  Campbell,  3. 
Flower  of  Gloster,  The.     E.  Temple  Thurston, 

30- 
Four  Gospels  as  Historical  Records,  9. 
Free  Catholic  Church.    Rev.  J.  M.  Thomas,  30. 
Freedom  of  Thought.     Bury,  4. 
Freezing  Point,  The.     Jones,  13. 
French  Composition.     Jas.  Boielle,  3. 


French  History,  First  Steps  in.     F.  F.  Roget, 

23- 

French  Language,  Grammar  of.     Eugene,  7. 
French    Literature,    Landmarks    in.      G.    L. 

Strachey,  30. 
French  Reader.     Leon  Delbos,  6. 
French  Revolution,  The.     Hilaire  Belloc,  2. 
Fundamental  Truths  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

R.  Seeberg,  27. 

Gammarus.     Vide  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs,  37. 

Gaul,  Wall  Map  of,  16. 

General  Language  of  the  Incas  of  Peru.     Sir 

Clements  Markham,  19. 
Genesis,    Book   of,    in    Hebrew   Text.       Rev. 

C.  H.  H.  Wright,  28. 
Genesis  and    Evolution    of  the   Soul.      J.   O- 

Bevan,  2. 
Genesis,  Hebrew  Text,  11. 
Geography,  Modern.     Dr  M.  Newbigin,  21. 
Geometry,  Analytical,  Elements  of.    Hardy,  n. 
German   History,    Noble  Pages  from.     F.  J. 

Gould,  10. 
German    Idioms,    Short    Guide    to.      T.    H. 

Weisse,  30. 
German    Literature,    A   Short  Sketch  of.     V. 

Phillipps,  B.A.,  23. 
Germany,  England  and,  6. 
Germany  of  To-day.     Tower,  30. 
Germany,    The    Literature    of.      Prof.    J.    G. 

Robertson,  25. 
Glimpses  of  Tennyson.     A.  G.  Weld,  32. 
God  and  Life.     Dr  John  Hunter,  14. 
Gospel  of  Rightness.     C.  E.  Woods,  33. 
Gospels   in  Greek,  First   Three.     Rev.    Colin 

Campbell,  4. 
Grammar,  Egyptian.     Erman,  7. 
Grammar,  Ethiopic.     A.  Dillman,  6. 
Greek-English  Dictionary,  Modern,  17. 
Greek  Ideas,  Lectures  on.     Rev.  Dr.  Hatch, 

II. 
Greek,     New     Testament.       Prof.     Edouard 

Nestle,  19. 
Greek   Religion,    Higher   Aspects  of.     L,    R. 

Farnell,  8. 
Greeks  :  Hellenic  Era,  27. 
Grieben's  English  Guides,  9. 
Gulistan,  The  (Rose  Garden),  of  Shaik  Sadi  of 

Shiraz,  23. 
Gymnastics,    Medical   Indoor.      Dr  Schreber. 


14  Henrietta  Street,  Covent  Garden,  London,  W.C. 


CATALOGUE  OF  PUBLICATIONS. 


47 


Harnack    and     his    Oxford    Critics.       T.    K. 

Saunders,  26. 
Health  and  Disease.     Dr  W.   L.   Mackenzie, 

19. 
Hebrew,  New  School  of  Poets,  20. 
Hebrew  Religion.    W,  E.  Addis,  i. 
Hebrew  Story.     John  P.  Peters,  23. 
Hebrew    Synonyms,    Studies    in.      Rev.     J. 

Kennedy,  16. 
Hebrew  Texts,  12. 
Hellenistic  Greeks.      Mahafty  and   Goligher, 

27. 
Herbaceous,  Border,  The.    Mrs  A.  Martineau, 

20. 
Heredity    in   Relation    to   Eugenics.      C.   B. 

Davenport,  6. 
Hibbert  Journal  Supplement  for  1909,  entitled  : 

Jesus  or  Christ?  13. 
Hibbert  Journal,  The,  13. 
Hibbert  Lectures,  35. 
Highways    and    Bywaj's    in    Literature.     H. 

Farrie,  8. 
Hindu  Chemistry.     Prof.  P.  C.  Ray,  24. 
Historical    Evidence     for    the     Resurrection. 

Kirsopp  Lake,  17. 
History  of  Dogma.     Adolf  Harnack,  11. 
History  of  England.     A.  F.  Pollard,  23. 
History  of  Jesus  of  Nazara.     Keim,  14. 
History'  of  Our  Time.     G.  P.  Gooch,  9. 
History  of  Sacerdotal  Celibacy.    H.  C.  Lea,  17. 
History  of  War  and  Peace.     Perris,  22. 
History  of  the  Church.     Hans  von  Schubert, 

26. 
History  of  the  Hebrews.     R.  Kittel,  17. 
History  of   the    Literature   of  the   O.T.     E. 

Kautzsch,  16. 
History   of  the   New   Testament   Times.     A. 

Hausrath,  ii. 
Holland,  Practical  Guide  to,  10. 
Home  Uniz'crsity  Library  of  Modern  Know- 
ledge, 37. 
Horse,    Life-Size   Models    of.     J.    T.    Share- 
Jones,  13  ;  the.  Surgical  Anatomy  of,  13. 
House  of  Commons,  The,  from  Within.     Rt. 

Hon.  R.  Farquharson,  8. 
How  to  Teach  the  Bible.    Rev.  A.  F.  Mitchell, 

20. 
Human  Body,  The.     Prof.  Arthur  Keith,  16. 
Hygiene,  Handbook  of.     D.  G.  Bergey,  2. 
Hymns  of  Duty  and   Faith.      R.   Crompton 
Jones,  15, 


Idolniakers,  Among  the.    Prof.  L.  P.  Jacks,  14, 
Immortality,  Some  Intimations  of.     Rt.  Hon. 

Sir  E.  Fry,  9. 
Incarnate  Purpose,  The.     G.  H.  Percival,  21. 
India,    Peoples  and  Problems  of.     Sir  T.  W. 

Holderness,  13. 
Indian  Buddhism.     Rhys  Davids,  6. 
Individual   Soul,    Genesis    and   Evolution   of. 

J.  O.  Bevan,  2. 
Individualism   and   Collectivism.      Dr  C.  W. 

Saleeby,  26. 
Indoor  Gymnastics,  Medical.      Dr   Schreber, 

26. 
Industrial  Remuneration,  Methods  of.     David 

F.  Schloss,  26. 
Infinitesimals  and  Limits.     Hardy,  ii. 
Influence  of  Greek  Ideas  upon   the  Christian 

Church.     Rev.  Dr  Hatch,  12. 
Influence  of  Rome  on  Christianity.     E.  Renan, 

24. 
Initiation  into  Philosophy.      Emile  Faguet,  6. 
Inorganic  Chemistry.     J.  L.  Howe,  14. 
Inorganic     Qualitative     Chemical     Analysis. 

Leavenworth,  18. 
Interpretation  of  Rudolf  Eucken's  Philosophy. 

W.  Tudor  Jones,  15. 
Introduction    to    Biblical    Hebrew.      Rev.    J, 

Kennedy,  16. 
Introduction  to  the  Greek  New  Test.     Prof.  E. 

Nestle,  2T. 
Introduction    to    the    Old    Test.     Prof.    Carl 

Cornill,  5,  39. 
Introduction   to   the  Preparation   of   Organic 

Compounds.     Emil  Fischer,  8, 
Introduction  to  Science.    Prof,  J.  A.  Thomson, 

30- 
Irish  Nationality.     Mrs  J.  R.  Green,  10. 
Isaiah,  Hebrew  Text,  11. 

Jesus.  Wilhelm  Bousset,  3. 
Jesus  of  Nazara.  Keim,  16. 
Jesus  or  Christ  ?    The  Hibbert  Journal  Supple- 

ment  for  1909,  11. 
Jesus,  Sayings  of.     Adolf  Harnack,  n. 
Job.     Hebrew  Text,  II. 
Job,  Book  of.     G.  H,  Bateson  Wright,  30, 
Job,    Book    of.     Rabbinic     Commentary    on, 

30- 
Johnson,  Dr,  and  His   Circle.     John  Bailey, 

13- 
Journal  of  the  Federated  Malay  States,  40. 


14  Henrietta  Street,  Covent  Garden,  London,  W.C. 


48 


WILLIAMS  &  NORGATE'S 


Journal  of  the  Linnean  Society.     Botany  and 

Zoology,  15- 
Journal  of  the  Quekett  Microscopical  Club,  15. 
journal  of  the  Royal  Microscopical  Society,  15. 
Justice.     Herbert  Spencer,  29. 

Kantian  Ethics.     J.  G.  Schurman,  26. 

Kea,  The.     George  R.  Marriner,  19. 

Kiepert's  New  Atlas  Antiquus,  15. 

Kiepert's  Wall-Maps  of  the  Ancient  World,  15. 

Kindergarten,  The.     H.  Goldammer,  9. 

King,  The,  to  His  People,  17. 

Kingdom,      The      Mineral.        Dr      Reinhard 

Brauns,  3. 
Laboratory  Experiments.     Noyes  and  Mulli- 

ken,  20. 
Lakes  of  Northern  Italy,  Guide  to,  10. 
Landmarks    in    French    Literature.       G.     L. 

Strachey,  30. 
Latter   Day   Saints,   The.     Ruth  and   R.   W. 

Kauffman,  15. 
Law,  English,  Elements  of.    W.  M.  Geldart,  9. 
Lays  of  Ancient  Rome.     Macaulay,  19. 
Leabhar  Na  H-Uidhri,  41. 
Le  Coup  de  Pistolet.     Merimee,  33. 
Lepeophtheirus  and  Lernea.     Vide  L.M.B.C. 

Memoirs,  39. 
Letter  to  the  "  Preussiche  Jahrbucher."    Adolf 

Harnack,  11. 
Les  Misdrables.     Victor  Hugo,  14. 
Liberal  Christianity.     Jean  Rdville,  24. 
Liberalism.     Prof.  L.  T.  Hobhouse,  13. 
Life  and  Matter.     Sir  O.  Lodge,  18. 
Life  of  the  Spirit,  The.     Rudolf  Eucken,  7. 
Ligia.     Vide  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs,  39. 
Lineus.     Vide  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs,  39. 
Linnean  Society  of  London,  Journals  of,  15. 
Literature,  English  Mediaeval.      Prof.  W.  P. 

Ker,  16. 
Literature,  Highways  and  Byways  in.     Hugh 

Farrie,  8. 
Literature  of  Germany.     Prof.  J.  G.  Robert- 
son, 25. 
Literature  of  the  Old  Testament.     Kautzsch, 

16. 
Literature,    The   Victorian   Age    in.      G.    K. 

Chesterton,  4. 
Liverpool  Marine  Biology  Committee  Mem- 
oirs, 39. 
Liverpool  Marine   Biology  Committee    Mem- 
oirs; L-XVIL,  36,  37- 


Logarithmic  Tables.  Schroen,  26. 
London  Library,  Catalogue  of,  18. 
London  Library  Subject  Index,  t8. 
Luke  the  Physician.     Adolf  Harnack,  11. 

Mad    Shepherds,    and    other   Studies.      Prof. 

L.  P.  Jacks,  14. 
Mahabharata,  Index  to.     S.  Sorensen,  28. 
Making  a  Newspaper.     John  L.  Given,  9. 
Making  of  the  Earth.    Prof.  J.  W.  Gregory,  10. 
Making  of  the  New  Testament.     Prof.  B.  W. 

Bacon,  i. 
Man  and  the  Bible.     J.  A.  Picton,  23. 
Man  versus  the  State.     Herbert  Spencer,  29. 
Man's   Origin,    Destiny,    and    Duty.      Hugh 

M'Coll,  19. 
Maori,    Lessons    in.       Right     Rev.     W.     L. 

Williams,  30. 
Maori,     New     and     Complete     Manual     of. 

Williams,  30. 
Marine  Zoology  of  Okhamandal.     Hornell,  14. 
Massoretic  Text.     Rev.  Dr  J.  Taylor,  30. 
Master  Mariners.     J.  R.  Spears,  28. 
Mathematics,  Introduction  to.     A.  N.  White- 
head, 32. 
Matter  and  Energy.     F.  Soddy,  27. 
Mediaeval  Europe.     H.  W.  C  Davis,  6. 
Metallic   Objects,    Production    of.       Dr.    W. 

Pfanhauser,  23. 
Metallurgy.     Wysor,  31. 
Metaphysica  Nova  et  Vetusta.     Prof.  Simon 

Laurie,  17. 
Midrash,  Christianity  in.    Travers  Herford,  12. 
Milando  Panho,  The.     Edited  by  V.  Trenck- 

ner,  20. 
Mineral  Kingdom,  The.     Dr  R.  Brauns,  3. 
Mission  and  Expansion  of  Christianity.     Adolf 

Harnack,  11. 
Missions.     ]\Irs  Creighton,  5. 
Modern  Greek-English  Dictionary.     A.  Kj'ria- 

kides,  16. 
Modern      Materialism.        Rev.      Dr     James 

Martineau,  18. 
Modernity  and  the  Churches.  Percy  Gardner,  9. 
Mohammedanism.     Prof.  D.  S.  Margoliouth, 

19. 
Molecular  Weights.     Methods  of  Determining. 

Henry  Biltz,  3. 
Monasticism.     Adolf  Harnack,  11. 
Moorhouse  Lectures.     Vide  Mercer's  Soul  of 
Progress,     18 ;    Stephen,     Democracy    and 
Character,  27. 


14  Henrietta  Street,  Covent  Garden,  London,  W.C. 


CATALOGUE  OF  PUBLICATIONS. 


49 


Mormons,  The.  R.  W.  and  Ruth  Kauffman,  15. 

Munich  and  Environs,  Guide  to,  10. 

My    Life,    Some    Pages    of.       Bishop    Boyd 

Carpenter,  4. 
My  Struggle  for  Light.     R.  Wimmer,  32. 
Mystery  of  Newman.     Henri  Bremond,  3. 

Naples  and  Capri,  Guide  to,  10. 
Napoleon.  H.  A.  L.  Fisher,  9. 
National  Idealism  and  State  Church,  5  ;  and 

the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  5.     Dr  Stan- 
ton Coit. 
National    Religions  and  Universal    Religion. 

Dr  A.  Kuenen,  33. 
Native  Religions  of  Me.xico  and    Peru.      Dr 

A.  Reville,  24. 
Naturalism  and  Religion.       Dr  Rudolf  Otto, 

22. 
Nautical  Terms.     L.  Delbos,  5. 
Navy,  The,  and  Sea  Power.     David  Hannay, 

II. 
Nervation  of  Plants.     Francis  Heath,  12. 
New  Hebrew  School  of  Poets      Edited  by  H. 

Brodyand  K.  Albrecht,  20. 
New   Testament,    Making  of.      Prof.    B.   W. 

Bacon,  i. 
New  Zealand  Language,  Dictionary  of.     Rt.    j 

Rev.  W.  L.  Williams,  32. 
Newman,  Mystery  of.     Henry  Bremond,  3. 
Newspaper,  Making  a.     John  L.  Given,  9. 
Newspaper,  The.     G.  Binney  Dibblee,  6. 
Nibelungenlied.     Trans.  W.  L.  Lettsom,  20. 
Noble  Pages  from  German  History.      F.   J. 

Gould,  9. 
Nonconformity.      Its  Origin,   etc.      Principal 

W.  B.  Selbie,  27. 
North  Sea  Watering-Places,  Guide  to,  10. 
Norway  and  Copenhagen,  Practical  Guide  to, 

10. 
Norwegian  Sagas  translated  into  English,  23. 
Notre  Dame  de  Paris.     Victor  Hugo,  14. 
Nuremberg  and  Rothenburg,  Guide  to,  10. 

Old   French,  Introduction   to.     F.  F.  Roget, 

23- 
Ostend,  Guide  to,  10. 

Old  Syriac  Gospels.     Mrs  A.  Smith  Lewis,  18. 
Old   Testament   in   the    Light    of   the    East. 

Jeremias,  14. 
Old  Testament,  Canonical  Books  of.  Cornill,  5. 
Old  Testament,  Prophets  of.     Ewald,  8. 


Old  World,  The,  WaH  ALnp  of,  16. 
Ophthalmic  Test  Types.     Snellen's,  25. 
Optical  Rotating  Power.     Hans  Landolt,  17. 
"  Opus  Majus"  of  Roger  Bacon,  2. 
Organic  Analysi.s.     Benedict,  2. 
Organic  Chemistry.     A.  A.  Noyes,  20. 
Organic  Compounds.     Emil  Fischer,  8. 
Origin    and     Growth     of    Religion.       C.    G. 

Montefiore,  21. 
Origin  and   Nature  of  Life.     Prof.  Benjamin 

Moore,  21. 
Outlines  of  Church  History.    Von  Schubert,  24. 
Outlines  of  Psychology.     Wilhelm  Wundt,  31. 

Pages    of   my    Life,     Some.       Bishop    Boyd 

Carpenter,  4. 
Pacific,  The,  Problems  of.     Frank  Fox,  9. 
Painters  and  Painting.     Sir  Fredk.  Wedmore, 

ay- 
Pali,  Handbook  of.     Dr  O.  Frankfurter,  35. 
Pali  Miscellany.     V.  Trenckner,  31. 
Papacy  and  Modern   Times.      Rev.  Dr  Wm. 

Barry,  2. 
Parliament,    In   and    Out   of.       Rt.    Hon.    R. 

Farquharson,  8. 
Parliament,    Its    History,    Constitution,    and 

Practice.     Ilbert,  4. 
Pascal,  Blaise.     H.  R.  Jordan,  14. 
Patella.     Vide  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs,  i,  39. 
Paul.     Baur,  2;  Weinel,  32. 
Paulinism.     Otto  Pfleiderer,  23. 
Pecton.     Vide  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs,  37. 
Persian  Empire,  Wall  ]\Iap  of,  16. 
Persian   Language,    A   Grammar    of.      J.   T. 

Platts,  23. 
Personal  and  Family  Prayers,  23. 
Pharisaism.     R.  Travers  Herford,  12. 
Philo  Judaeus.     Dr  Drummond,  7. 
Philosophy,  a  New.     Edouard  Le  Roy,  18. 
Philosophy,  Initiation  into.     Emile  Faguet,  6. 
Philosophy  and  Experience.     Hodgson,  29. 
Philosophy  of  Religion.     Otto  Pfleiderer,  23. 
Plant  Life.     Farmer,  8. 
Plants,  Nervation  of.     Francis  Heath,  12. 
Pleuronectes.     Vide  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs,  39. 
Pocket  Flora  of  Edinburgh.   C.  O.  Sonntag,  28. 
Polar  ^Exploration.     Dr  W.  S.  Bruce,  4. 
Political  Economy,  Elements  of.     Prof.  S.  J. 

Chapman,  4. 
Polychaet  Larvae.     Vide  L.M.B.C.  Memoirs, 

39- 


14  Henrietta  Street,  Covent  Garden,  London,  W.C. 


50 


WILLIAMS  &  NORGATE'S 


Portland  Cement.  Richard  K.  Meade,  20. 
Prayers  for  Christian  Worship.  Sadler,  25. 
Prehistoric  Times.  Lord  Avebury,  i. 
Primitive  Christianity.  Otto  Pfleiderer,  23. 
Princess,  The.  Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson,  30. 
Principles  of  Physiology.     Prof.  J.   G.   Mac- 

Kendrick,  19. 
Printing  at  Brescia.     R.  A.  Peddie,  22. 
Prison,  The.     H.  B.  Brewster,  3. 
Problems    of    Philosophy.        Hon.    Bertrand 

Russell,  25. 
Problems  of  the  Pacific.     Frank  Fox,  9. 
Proceedings  of  the  Aristotelian  Society,  24. 
Proceedings  of  the  Optical  Convention,  24. 
Prolegomena.     Dr  A.  Rdville,  24. 
Protestant  Commentaryon  the  New  Testament, 

8,  23. 
Protestantism  and  Progress.     Ernst  Troeltsch, 

31- 
Psalms,  Commentary  on.     Ewald,  8. 
Psalms,  Hebrew  Text,  12. 
Psychical  Research.     Sir  W.  F.  Barrett,  2. 
Psychology.     Prof.  W.  MacDougall,  19. 
Psychology,  Principles  of,  Spencer,  28;  Out- 

lines  of,  Wundt,  33. 
Public    Schools    and   the  Empire.      Rev.    Dr 

H.  B.  Gray,   10. 

Qualitative  Analysis,  Notes  on.     Prof.  W.  P, 

Mason,  20. 
Quest,  The.     Dorothea  Hollins,  13. 

Reasons  for  Dissenting  from  the  Philosophy  of 

M.  Comte.     Herbert  Spencer,  29. 
Recollections    of  a    Scottish   Novelist.      Mrs 

L.  B.  Walford,  31. 
Reconstruction    and     Union.       Paul    Leland 

Haworth,  12. 
Reformation  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.     Rev. 

Dr  C.  Beard,  2. 
Refutations  of  Mani,  Marcion,  and  Bardaisan. 

Rev.  C.  W.  Mitchell,  20,  40. 
Reinforced  Concrete  in  Europe.     Colby,  5. 
Rejoinder  to  Prof.  Weismann,  28. 
Relation  between  Ethics  and  Religion.     Rev. 

Dr  James  Martineau,  20. 
Religion     and     Modern     Culture.       Auguste 

Sabatier,  25. 
Religion,      Comparative.       Principal     J.     E. 

Carpenter,  4. 


Religion,  Evolution  of.     L.  R.  Farnell,  8. 

Religion,  Truth  of.     Rudolf  Eucken,  7. 

Religion  of  Ancient  Egypt.     Renouf,  24. 

Religion  of  the  Ancient  Hebrews,  C.  G. 
Montefiore,  21. 

Religion  of  Israel.     Kuenen,  17. 

Religion  of  the  Old  Testament.     Marti,  19. 

Religions  of  Ancient  Babylonia  and  Assyria. 
Prof.  A.  H.  Sayce,  26. 

Religions  of  Authority  and  the  Spirit.  Auguste 
Sabatier,  25. 

Religious  Experience  of  St.  PauL  Prof.  P. 
Gardner,  9. 

Religious  Liberty.     Professor  Ruffini,  25. 

Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  Lake,  17  ; 
R.  W.  Macan,  19. 

Revolution,  The  French.     Hilaire  Belloc,  2. 

Rhine,  The,  Guide  to,  10. 

Ring  of  Pope  Xystus,  5. 

Riviera,  The,  Practical  Guide  to,  10. 

Rock  Gardens.     L.  B.  Meredith,  20. 

Roman  Empire,  Wall  Map  of,  16. 

Rome.     W.  Warde  Fowler,  9. 

Rothenberg  and  Nuremberg,  Guide  to,  10, 

Royal  Dublin  Society.  Transactions  and  Pro- 
ceedings, 30,  43. 

Royal  Irish  Academy.  Transactions  and  Pro- 
ceeding, 31,  43. 

Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh.  Transactions  of, 
31.  43- 


Sacerdotal  Celibacy.     Henry  Chas.  Lea,  17. 
Sadi.     The  Gulistan  (Rose  Garden)  of  Shaik 

Sadi  of  Shiraz,  25. 
Sagas  of  Olaf  Tryggvason   and   Harold   the 

Tyrant,  25. 
Sailors'  Horn  Book.     H.  Piddington,  23. 
Sayings  of  Jesus,  The.     Adolf  Harnack,  11. 
School  Teaching  and  School  Reform.    Sir  O. 

Lodge,  18. 
School,  The.     Prof.  J.  J.  Findlay,  8. 
Shakespeare.     John  Masefield,  20. 
Science  of  Wealth.     J.  A.  Hobson,  13. 
Science,    Matter,    and    Immortality.     R.    C. 

Macfie,  19. 
Scientific   Study   of  the  Old   Testament.     R. 

Kittel,  17. 
Seasons,   The :    An    Anthology.     H.   and    L. 

Melville,  20. 
Second  Year  Chemistry.     Edward  Hart,  12. 


14  Henrietta  Street,  Covent  Garden,  London,  W.C. 


CATALOGUE  OF  PUBLICATIONS. 


51 


Seeds  and  Fruits,  Studies  in.     H.  B.  Guppy, 

10. 
Seger.    Collected  Writings,  27. 
Sentimental  Journey.     Laurence  Sterne,  29. 
Seven-Figure  Logarithms.     L.  Schroen,  26. 
Severus,  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  Letters  of,  27. 
Short  History   of  the    Hebrew  Text.     T.   H. 

Weir,  32. 
Silva  Gadelica.     Siandish  H.  O'Grady,  22. 
Social  Gospel,  Essays  on  the,  11. 
Social  Idealism.     R.  Dimsdale  Stocker,  30. 
Social  Statics.     Herbert  Spencer,  29. 
Socialism  and  Democracy  in  Europe.     Samuel 

P.  Orth,  22. 
Socialist  Movement,  The.    J.  R.  MacDonald, 

19. 
Sociology,  Descriptive.     Herbert  Spencer,  29. 
Sociology,  Principles  of.     Herbert  Spencer,  28. 
Sociology,  Study  of.     Herbert  Spencer,  29. 
Soil,  Fertility,  and  Fertilisers.     Halligan,  10. 
Soils.     F/i/(f  Wiley's  Agricultural  Analysis,  32. 
Soils  and  Fertilisers.     Snyder,  27. 
Soliloquies  of  St  Augustine.     Cleveland,  27. 
Soul  of  Progress.     Bishop  Mercer,  20. 
Spencer,    Herbert,   Life  and   Letters  of.      D. 

Duncan,  7. 
Spinal   Cord,  Topographical  Atlas  of.     Alex. 

Bruce,  M.A.,  etc.,  4. 
Spirit,  The  Life  of.     Rudolf  Eucken,  7. 
St.  Paul,  The  Religious  Experience  of.     Prof. 

P.  Gardner,  9. 
Statuette,  The,  and  the  Background.     H.  B. 

Brewster,  3. 
Statutes,  The,  of  the  Apostles.     G.  Horner,  29. 
Stereochemistry,  Elements  of.     Hantzsch,  11. 
Stock  Exchange,  The.     F.  W.  Hirst,  13. 
Storms.     H.  Piddington,  23. 
Studies   from  the  Yale  Psychological  Labora- 
tory.    Edward  W.  Scripture,  Ph.D.,  31. 
Studies  in  Seeds  and  Fruits.    H.  B.  Guppy,  10. 
Studies     on     Northern     Mythology.       Geo. 

Stephens,  56. 
Study  of  the  Atom.     Venable,  31. 
Study  of  the  Saviour.     Alex.  Robinson,  24. 
Subject- Index  to  London  Library  Catalogue,  54. 
Super-Organic  Evolution.    Dr  Enrique  Lluria, 


Symbolic  Logic.     A.  T.  Shearman,  27. 
Symbolism,  Lost  Language  of.  Harold  Bayley, 

2. 
Synoptic   Gospels,    The    Date  of  the.      Adolf 

Harnack,  ii. 
Synthetic   Philosophy,   Epitome   of.       F.    H. 

Collins,  5. 
Syriac  Grammar.     Theodor  Ncildeke,  22. 
System   of  Synthetic    Philosophy.       Herbert 

Spencer,  31. 

Talmud  and  Midrash,  Christianity  in.  R. 
Travers  Herford,  12. 

Taylor,  General  Sir  Alexander.  A  Memoir 
by  his  Daughter,  30. 

Ten  Services  and  Psalms  and  Canticles,  27. 

Ten  Services  of  Public  Prayer,  27. 

Tent  and  Testament.     Herbert  Rix,  25. 

Testament,  Old.  Canonical  Books  of,  5 ; 
Religions  of,  19 ;  Cuneiform  Inscriptions, 
26 ;  Hebrew  Text,  Weir,  32  ;  Literature, 
16. 

Testament,  The  New,  Critical  Notes  on.  C. 
Tischendorf.  30. 

Testament  Times,  New,  12;  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  II  ;  Apologetic  of,  26;  Books  of 
the,  27  ;  Commentary,  Protestant,  3  ;  Luke 
the  Physician,  11  ;  Textual  Criticism,  21. 

Test  Types.     Pray,  24  ;  Snellen,  27. 

Text  and  Translation  Society,  Works  by,  40. 

Theological  Translation  Library,  40. 

Theories  of  Anarchy  and  of  Law.  H.  B. 
Brewster,  3. 

Thermometer,  History  of  the.     Bolton,  3. 

Tourist  Guides.     Grieben's,  lo. 

Transactions  of  the  Royal  Dublin  Society,  30. 

Transactions  of  the  Royal  Irish  Ac.-\demy,  31. 

Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edin- 
burgh, 31. 

Truth,  The,  of  Religion.     Eucken,  7. 


Unionist  Policy.     Rt.  Hon.  F.  E.  Smith,  27. 
Universal  Christ.     Rev.  Dr.  C.  Beard,  2. 
Universalism  Asserted.     Rev.  Thos.  Allin,  i 
Urine  Analysis,  A  Text-Book  ot.     Long,  18. 


Surgical  Anatomy  of  the  Horse. 

Jones,  46. 
Switzerland,    Practical  Guide  to, 

Sports  in,  lo. 

J.  T.  Share 
10;  Winter 

Vaillante,  Vincent,  33. 

Various  Fragments.     Herbert  Spencer,  29. 

Veiled  Figure,  The,  31. 

Via,  Veritas,  Vita.     Dr.  Drummond,  7. 

14  Henrietta  Street,  Covent  Garden,  London,  W.C. 


52 


WILLIAMS  &  NORGATE'S  CATALOGUE. 


Victorian  Age  in  Literature.  G.  K.  Chester- 
ton, II. 

Virgin  Birth  of  Christ.     Paul  Lobstein,  i8. 

Vocabularies  of  the  General  Language  of  the 
Incas  of  Peru.  Sir  Clements  Markham, 
19. 

Vulgate,  The.     Rev.  G.  Henslow,  12. 

Wall  Maps  of  the  Ancient  World.  Kiepert, 
16. 

Warfare  in  England.     Hilaire  Belloc,  2. 

Was  Israel  ever  in  Egypt?  G.  H,  B.  Wright, 
33. 

Water,  Electrolysis  of.     Engelhardt,  7. 


Weather,  Climate  and.    Prof.  H.  N.  Dickson, 

6. 
What  is  Christianity?    Adolf  Harnack,  11. 
Winter  Sports  in  Switzerland,  Guide  to,  10. 
Wife,  The,   in    Ancient   and    Modern   Times. 

Schuster,  26. 
Within,  Thoughts  during  Convalescence.     Sir 

Francis  Younghusband,  33. 
Women's  Suffrage.     Helen  Blackburn,  3. 
World,  The  Old.  Wall  Map  of,  16. 
Writers,  Great,  of  America.     Profs.  Trent  and 

Erskine,  7,  31. 
Writing  of  English.     Brewster,  3. 


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